Equally Safe strategy
The Equally Safe Strategy sets out a vision to address violence against women and girls.
It outlines our ambition to stop it occurring in the first place, build the capability and capacity of support services, and strengthen the justice response to victims and perpetrators.
Our strategy and responses are informed by the experience of victims and by the expertise of professionals.
Equally Safe: Scotland's strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls was refreshed in 2023.
The priorities of the Equally Safe 2023 refresh are:
- achieving greater gender equality
- intervening early and effectively to prevent violence and maximising the safety and wellbeing of women, children and young people
- tackling perpetrators
The Strategy was developed by the Scottish Government and COSLA in association with a wide range of partners from public and third sector organisations. The Equally Safe delivery plan contains the key deliverables and actions that will enable us to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls and the underlying attitudes and systems that perpetuate it.
Governance
Equally Safe governance
The governance structure supports the strategy and delivery plan. It includes the Equally Safe Ministerial Group and Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board. These help to monitor, evaluate and coordinate work across different sectors.
This structure strengthens collective leadership and helps delivery partners understand their role in ending violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The following structures are also in place:
VAWG policy network
This cross-government network brings together teams to work on VAWG policies, both in Scotland and internationally. Members meet every three months to share knowledge and coordinate their work, with regular communication to maintain momentum between meetings.
Equally Safe bulletin
This monthly newsletter keeps government teams and VAWG organisations up to date with the latest news, research, events and resources. It highlights what's happening across government and the sector to tackle violence against women and girls.
Voices of young people
We are committed to ensuring the voices of young people inform our work and are currently developing a model to support meaningful youth engagement within Equally Safe governance structures