SCOTTISH Labour slammed the SNP for peddling “empty commitments” yesterday as it revealed no health boards have yet signed up to a key women’s equality charter.
Freedom of information requests from Scottish Labour women’s health spokeswoman Carol Mochan MSP revealed that none of Scotland’s health boards have adopted a landmark accreditation programme designed to tackle gender inequality at work and prevent violence against women.
The Equally Safe at Work employee accreditation programme is described as “an innovative employer accreditation programme developed by Close the Gap, Scotland’s expert policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market equality.”
The strategy, jointly led by the Scottish government and the Convention Of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), recognises that violence against women is a cause and consequence of wider gender inequality and was introduced to address decades of historic neglect surrounding this issue.
Ms Mochan said: “Like so many things we hear from the Scottish government this is just another empty commitment that it hoped everyone would forget.
“A lot of time, money, and expertise goes into creating these plans, only for the SNP to let them gather dust.
“This is a shameful way for the SNP to repay the women working in the NHS, who have gone above and beyond to keep services going and compensate for the failures of the SNP government.”
Ms Mochan said she was concerned about the message being sent to women across the country by a government “that has been slow to react on many of the big issues facing women across Scotland today.
“The SNP must stop dragging its heels and start delivering the women’s health plan with the urgency it deserves,” she said.
The Scottish government was invited to comment.
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