Domestic abuse survivor says new misogyny bill is 'tick-box' exercise

A survivor of domestic violence has said that proposals by the Scottish Government to tackle abuse and misogyny are a “tick-box exercise” and has called for justice system reform.

Liz Shanks spoke to STV News after John Swinney announced new measures, including revisiting the abandoned misogyny bill and taking a public health approach to the issue.

The First Minister’s commitment to address the “pernicious situation” of violence against women and girls comes amid “worrying trends”.

Figures released last week showed the number of rapes and attempted rapes reported in Scotland rose by almost one third in four years, to 3,240 for the year to June 2026.

Sexual crimes overall have increased 11% in the past four years and 9% just in the last 12 months, with 16,560 recorded in the year to June.

‘Hard physically and mentally’

Liz set up cameras at her home in Blantyre to protect it from burglars – but instead they regularly captured her partner violently attacking her.

He was ultimately jailed, but after his first court appearance, he was granted bail.

It’s now several years since her injuries were inflicted, but she says one of the hardest experiences was with the justice system.

“My abuser went on to breach bail conditions”, she told STV News. “He contacted me and followed me.

“He was taken back to court and given bail again. It was really hard mentally and physically to get through as well.”

Swinney announced plans to recognise misogyny as a “distinct form of prejudice and abuse” during his programme for government on Tuesday.

He said the Scottish Government would seek to make progress on a previously scrapped misogyny Bill and to launch a multi-year, public health campaign to challenge misogynistic attitudes in boys and young men.

Liz said that the government’s proposals, while having “great intentions”, don’t go far enough.

“What could be done better?” she added. “There is a lot of good, but there is more meaningful action, and it deserves so much more than promises.

“It’s more about actions than words.

“It’s a great intention. There are always a lot of good ideas, but in reality, we don’t really see anything coming of that. I feel with the government, we’re doing a tick-box exercise.

“They’ll say what the public wants to hear, but when it actually wants to put it into practice, we don’t see anything happening.”

The Bill said that abuse rooted in hostility to women and girls is a “serious societal problem”.

It comes alongside a public health campaign to target toxic male behaviour.

John Swinney has announced measures to revisit the abandoned misogyny bill STV News

The head of Scottish women’s aid, Marsha Scott, has given a cautious welcome to the proposals.

“What are the things that fuel domestic abuse?” she said.

“Well, there’s women’s poverty, there’s men’s entitlement because of the inequality that women experience, and you know that is not something you can fix with a small change to the system; it requires pretty radical changes.”

Scotland’s justice secretary, Neil Gray, confirmed on Wednesday that the Scottish Government would take forward elements of the so-called Stacy’s Law.

Campaigners are calling for Scotland to make greater use of GPS electronic monitoring for domestic abuse perpetrators considered to pose a significant risk to a partner, former partner or their children.

It was launched in honour of Stacy Hunter, 35, who was murdered by her estranged husband at her home in Houston in July.

Mair, 43, had been previously charged with assaulting Ms Hunter, but had been granted bail on condition that he did not approach her.

Ann Hunter recently met with Mr Swinney to discuss the issue.

Gray said the First Minister was “deeply moved” by the meeting.

He added: “We are taking steps at the moment to strengthen bail conditions and bail monitoring. We are looking to expand GPS technology.

“The GPS technology that we’re talking about is to provide greater confidence to victims and the judiciary around whether somebody on a risk basis is suitable for bail.”

Gray told the programme he is committing to GPS tagging, but would need to check the timescale.