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On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app would not work. I would have voted no.

The industrialisation of the north-east, which Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is pursuing through its monster pylon plans, is causing alarm and trauma. I recently met Angus farmers, who, along with other stakeholders, raised serious concerns with me about the overhead lines’ impact on prime agricultural land.

The use of farming machinery, such as autonomous tractors, also has worrying implications. Has the Scottish Government considered the loss of agricultural productivity that will result from SSEN’s plans, and will it commit to protecting our food security and farmers in the north-east?

Will the minister take an intervention?

I welcome the opportunity to lead this members’ business debate on sexual violence in Scotland’s hospitals. I thank Michelle Thomson for supporting the motion and allowing it to achieve cross-party support. That means that we can shine a much-needed light on a serious safeguarding issue in Scotland’s national health service.

I pay tribute to the Women’s Rights Network Scotland, which is represented in the public gallery, especially Mary Howden and Carolyn Brown, who authored the sobering report—which I have with me here—“How safe are our Scottish hospitals?”

Once again, it is a grass-roots women’s organisation that has brought concerns about safety and safeguarding in Scotland’s public sector to the fore. The Sunday Post has built on that work in recent weeks by exposing the issue and holding the Scottish National Party Government to account. The WRN submitted close to 200 freedom of information requests to Police Scotland and surveyed 198 hospital settings over a five-year period. Data was made available for only 57 of those hospitals, which is just 29 per cent of Scotland’s total. It showed that, between 2019 and 2024, 276 sexual assaults and 12 rapes were reported and 163 sexual assaults and rapes occurred on hospital wards. Twenty-two sexual assaults and one rape took place in NHS Grampian, in my region, and 17 sexual assaults and three rapes took place in NHS Tayside. Out of a total of 288 incidents, only 156 individuals were charged.

Those are spine-chilling figures. By no means is that a complete picture. We do not have data for almost two thirds of Scotland’s NHS and private hospitals. Underreporting and a lack of data management mean that we simply do not know the full scale of the problem. We can all agree that even one sexual assault in our NHS is too many.

Whether it is to receive medical care ourselves or to visit a poorly loved one, we are often at our most vulnerable when we enter a hospital. We are placing our physical and psychological safety in the hands of health boards and NHS staff. We are entrusting our children and our family to their care. We must be able to do so without fear. Staff, too, are vulnerable. Members will recall the shocking revelations in autumn 2023 about female surgeons being sexually assaulted and harassed by male colleagues in the operating theatre. The safety of patients, visitors and staff must be the SNP Government’s top priority when it comes to the NHS.

I was extremely concerned to learn that some women are afraid to seek treatment because of the potential risk to their safety. I hope that the minister will address that in closing the debate. Earlier this year, I raised with the First Minister concerns about the Carseview psychiatric unit in NHS Tayside, which has mixed-sex wards. The WRN’s research suggests that seven sexual assaults and two rapes took place in this so-called secure psychiatric setting.

One of my constituents received treatment in Carseview for postpartum psychosis following the birth of her second baby. I understand that, at that most vulnerable point in her life, she was repeatedly subjected to another patient exposing himself. She was terrified and traumatised, she was separated from her support network and she was scared for her safety on a mixed-sex ward. How can that be? Where was the duty of care? For women giving birth or accessing support for serious mental ill health or learning disabilities, safeguarding has to be of paramount importance.

The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee recently heard evidence that 90 per cent of women with learning difficulties and disabilities have been subjected to sexual abuse, with 68 per cent of them experiencing sexual abuse before turning 18. Women have been raped or sexually assaulted at Scottish maternity hospitals on at least five different occasions, and one of those rapes was reported at Aberdeen maternity hospital. Sexual assaults have also been reported in other psychiatric units and palliative settings.

That cannot go on. We must see urgent action from the SNP Government, health boards, NHS partners and Police Scotland to allay the concerns of women and girls.

What is the way ahead? I often say that we cannot manage what we cannot measure. I understand that Healthcare Improvement Scotland is working to standardise the reporting of incidents, and that is to be welcomed, but we need details from the Scottish Government on how that will operate in practice. To address the risks and weaknesses and to put preventative policies in place, we need to see the data.

There is a wider issue about mixed-sex wards. Protecting single-sex spaces in our public sector should be at the top of the policy agenda, and I have had rigorous exchanges with SNP ministers on that issue. Since 2005, the Scottish Government has expected health boards to ensure that their facilities comply with the guidelines and recommendations on the elimination of mixed-sex accommodation that were published 25 years ago. However, that is just not happening on the ground, and I think that that is evident from the data.

Our hospitals must be safe for people—especially women and children—who access those settings. The SNP Government must act swiftly to address sexual violence in Scotland’s hospitals. [Applause.]

Will the minister take an intervention?

The answer is “no”.

That is a ludicrous and, frankly, a chilling statement from a regulator that is supposed to protect Scotland’s most vulnerable children and young people. There are massive safeguarding issues arising from that reckless guidance.

However, it is not just the Care Inspectorate. The Scottish Prison Service is in the spotlight once again because it is allowing trans-identifying prison officers to perform intimate and utterly unacceptable rub-down searches of vulnerable women who are visiting the prison estate. Violent trans-identifying men can still be housed in the female prison estate in certain circumstances.

Will the Scottish Government finally do the decent thing, lay down the law for Scotland’s public bodies and tell them to withdraw ill-informed and insidious guidance that allows the rights of male-bodied individuals to transcend those of women and girls?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review public sector guidance on single-sex spaces, in light of reported concerns about the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Prison Service. (S6T-02422)

The cabinet secretary may be interested to know that the Care Inspectorate’s “Guidance for children and young people’s services on the inclusion of transgender including non-binary young people” makes the following statement:

“The provision of gendered facilities such as toilets is social convention. There is no law in Scotland about this.”

Does the Scottish Government agree with the Care Inspectorate’s statement?

I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their communities.

Jennifer Garnes is the headteacher of Strathmore primary school in Forfar. She cares passionately about creating adaptive environments to provide equal opportunities for all learners. Her work resulted in the school becoming the first in Scotland to be awarded an ADHD friendly school award.

Mary Geaney is the chief executive officer of Rossie Young People’s Trust in Montrose. She leads a team of 185 staff to deliver trauma-informed care, education, health and specialist psychological services for young people with multiple and complex needs in secure care.

Helen Reid from Laurencekirk was my local hero for the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary celebration. She makes such a positive contribution to improving her local area by holding fundraising events and coffee mornings to provide Christmas lights and summer hanging baskets.

Jill Fotheringham, a local businesswoman, has been campaigning for many years to improve the treacherous Laurencekirk junction, which has caused too many deaths, collisions and near misses. Her unwavering commitment to the campaign has, at all times, kept the pressure on Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to get shovels in the ground.

Other women, such as Angela Taylor from the Angus Pylon Action Group and June Morrison from the Leylodge against industrialisation group, are leading the charge against the megapylon plans that will puncture the beautiful countryside of the north-east and decimate communities.

Those special and brilliant women, and many more besides, have made such a difference to their communities, personally and professionally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to them today.

As the motion highlights, this year’s IWD theme is accelerate action, to address with renewed urgency the barriers that many women face. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on two of those barriers—the crippling cost of childcare and difficulties accessing diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions such as cervical cancer and endometriosis.

After working in human resources for more than 30 years, I know how vital accessible childcare is for women as they return to work after maternity leave. There are two issues with childcare in Scotland—cost and availability. Both have been highlighted in a petition to the Parliament that was lodged by Aberdeenshire mum Julie Fraser. She is calling for funded hours to be introduced in Scotland when a baby is nine months old. That has already been rolled out in England. Women who want to work are being priced out of the workforce because of sky-high nursery fees. Funded hours from when a baby is nine months old would be a game changer for many working parents.

On women’s health, no woman should have to endure sleepless nights because of delays to diagnosis and treatment. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome can have a massive impact on a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing, but it can take years to secure a diagnosis. The Dundee endo warriors have been doing brilliant work to shine a light on women’s health inequalities.

Women across Scotland are making such a difference every day. It is our duty to come together and knock down the barriers that are holding them back.

I say to Audrey Nicoll and Evelyn Tweed that language matters. Gender is a construct; sex is down to biology.

It is no wonder that trust in the Scottish Government has been so badly corroded. The SNP has made an absolute mess of this. Its amendment to the motion says:

“the Scottish Government fully upholds the Equality Act 2010”.

Senior SNP politicians have made similar statements, but the sleekit SNP is at it again. John Swinney is trying and failing to ride two horses on sex and self-ID.