West Dunbartonshire faces an ever-increasing number of incidents of domestic abuse, Conservative MSP Pam Gold the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.
She said: “It has been reported that the total number of women and children who experience domestic abuse in West Dunbartonshire and ask for help rose by 7.59 per cent to 1,729 in just one year.
“Those are shocking figures. They make West Dunbartonshire the local authority with the second-largest number of recorded incidents per 10,000 people.”
She added: “At the same time, services that offer vital support are starving for funding. When I brought that up during the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government [Shona Robison] blamed misogyny and not her own Government’s shortcomings.
“Can the First Minister guarantee that services in the Highlands, in West Dunbartonshire and across the country will receive the funding that they deserve?”
“In my answers to all questions about violence against women and girls, I have made no secret of my view that the behaviour of men has to be confronted.
“It is completely legitimate for that argument to be made in Parliament or in parliamentary committees.”
He added: “I say to Pam Gosal that an important opportunity is coming up in the next few weeks to vote to provide resource to women’s aid organisations and to tackle domestic violence.
“That will happen only if Parliament supports the Government’s budget. I will certainly be voting for the Government’s budget and I encourage others to do likewise.”
Top of page picture: MSP Pam Gosal talks to a woman’s group about domestic abuse.