For Women Scotland

Last Chance Saloon

| Activism   Hate Crime Bill   Prisons  

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John Swinney and his SNP Government are standing in the last chance saloon with time fast running out to make good on the promises made to women before Parliament dissolves on 26 March 2026. The Government committed to implementing the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “woman”, to add “sex” to the Hate Crime Act, and to challenge men’s demand for prostitution – but have achieved none of them. There are only a few short weeks for the Government to take action before Parliament closes down and the country prepares to head to the polls in May. If the SNP doesn’t wish to face women’s fury on the doorstep and the consequences at the ballot box, this is their final chance to make a difference.

The Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour are wholly, or largely, on side on all three issues so we are asking everyone to email ONLY their SNP MSPs to ask for immediate action on the following:

  1. Add sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021
    Last September, Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, was clear that she did not want a gap in the criminal law protections for women and girls and would produce a Scottish Statutory Instrument to add the characteristic of sex to the Hate Crime Act. Asked again about this on 15 January 2026, Ms Constance said: “I will lay an SSI well in advance of the end of this parliamentary session”.

    To date this has not been done and time is now very tight, if not impossible, for the SSI to be laid and considered by Parliament. MSPs should be able to confirm the timescale and their support for implementing the SSI.
  2. Support the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill
    Ash Regan MSP’s Unbuyable Bill is due to be debated by the Scottish Parliament on 3rd February 2026. This Bill is in line with the SNP Government’s stated position that “there is no place for the exploitation of any individual and that prostitution is recognised as a form of violence against women and girls” and that we must “challenge men’s demand for prostitution”. The Bill is based on the Nordic Model and, if passed, would make the purchase of sex a criminal offence and provide help to those who have been sexually exploited.

    Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and Cosla all support the Bill but, to date, the First Minister and SNP members of the Criminal Justice Committee have refused to do likewise. Without broader party support it will not pass the Stage 1 debate and we see no reason why SNP MSPs shouldn’t vote for it, at least in principle which would allow it to progress through Parliament for further debate and amendments. It is essential to send a clear message to the sex trade that women and girls are not for sale.
  3. Drop the judicial review of the Scottish Prison Service transgender prisoner guidance
    Despite claiming it accepts the Supreme Court judgment that sex is biological, the Scottish Government has done nothing but dithered and resisted its implementation. We are due in court on 3rd February for a judicial review of the prison guidance where the Government is defending the “right” of a man to be housed in the female prison estate if he says he is a woman. Unbelievably, the Government is arguing that the presence of a male murderer in a women’s prison is not dissimilar to a young boy in a female changing room, and they have asked the court to rule that the Supreme Court judgment is incompatible with human rights.

    We would echo the question from SNP MSP Ruth Maguire: “[D]oes the First Minister understand just how appalling the Government’s actions feel to many of us and how difficult it is to reconcile the Scottish Government’s words about the protection of single-sex spaces for females with its actions on the matter?”

    It’s not too late to concede the court case and reinstate women-only prison accommodation in line with the Supreme Court judgment, and we would hope many other SNP MSPs would also support their constituents in asking for this.

There were two excellent articles over the weekend covering these issues which are worth a read: Susan Dalgety in the Scotsman: When will John Swinney stop ignoring real screams of women trapped in Scotland’s sex trade? and Mandy Rhodes in Holyrood: John Swinney is allowing the trans prisoners row to become an election issue.

There really is no need for this to be a stand-off between women and the Government. Polls show the public overwhelmingly supports our position on these three issues and it is the Government’s job to serve its citizens. In one instance we’re requesting that the First Minister and his Government simply obey the ruling of the Supreme Court and, in the other two, follow through on their publicly stated commitments.

Please join us in writing to your SNP MSPs to ask them to take action on these issues. The easiest way to do so is to enter your postcode here and copy and paste the email addresses for all your SNP representatives into your own email, along with the suggested text below. Please feel free to amend or send your own message, and remember to include your postal address so that MSPs know you are a constituent.

Dear MSP,

I am writing as a constituent to ask for your support with the following three issues:

  1. Add sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021
    Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, stated she “will lay an SSI well in advance of the end of this parliamentary session” but, to date, this has not been done. There is not much time for this to be achieved before Parliament dissolves and it would be appreciated if you could confirm if and when the SSI will be laid, and that you will support its implementation.
  2. Support the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill
    This Bill is due to be debated on 3rd February and I ask that you vote to support it in principle at Stage 1. The Bill is in line with the SNP Government’s position on tackling male violence against women and I hope you agree it is essential to send a clear message to the sex trade that women and girls are not for sale.
  3. Judicial review of the Scottish Prison Service transgender prisoner guidance
    Despite the recent Supreme Court judgment that sex is a biological term, the Scottish Ministers are inexplicably defending the policy that allows male prisoners to be housed in the female prison estate. Like Ruth Maguire MSP, I find this decision appalling and I ask that you urge the First Minister to reconsider the legal action.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
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