Politician Kirsten Oswald has shown her support for calls to end violence against all women and girls.
Kirsten, MP for East Renfrewshire, has called on the UK Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention on violence against women law without exceptions.
The Convention is seen as the “gold standard” and was designed to tackle violence against women and girls, while also providing a lifeline for survivors.
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At an event on Wednesday, Kirsten joined a cross-party group of MPs and peers to urge the UK Government to ratify the Convention in full, including to provide support for migrant women. Kirsten and the 56 MPs look to put pressure on the government.
She said: "I was pleased to join colleagues on a cross-party basis to call on the UK Government to help end violence towards all women and girls in the UK. The statistics and stories show that we still have a long way to go, and we need action.
The UK Government, which has not signed the agreement yet, said that they plan to do so by the end of July but plan on “opting out” on some aspects of the convention.
Some of these aspects they are opting out of are key parts of the agreement such as providing life-saving support and protection, especially for migrant workers.
The SNP politician has asked the government to make sure “all women” are included in the protection.
“The UK Government’s plan to ratify the Convention is a step towards a safer world for all women and girls, but I join IC Change and leading women’s organisations in calling on them to offer protection to all women, including migrant women, when they ratify the Convention.”
Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Gavin Newlands also backs the calls for the government to sign the convention.
At an event at Westminster, organised by the IC Change campaign group and co-hosted by Mr Newlands, he called for the opt-outs to be scrapped.
He added: "I was delighted to help host and support their event in parliament this week, welcoming the imminent ratification of the treaty but also highlighting the fact that some women and girls are being left behind as the UK Government attaches opt-outs to its participation.
"That cannot be right – all women means all women and no-one should be excluded from protections simply because of where they come from. I’ve submitted a motion to Parliament this week signed by over 50 of my colleagues calling on the UK Government to remove their reservation and ratify the treaty without opt-outs.”
SNP man says he welcomes the climatic point of the ten-year campaign that has been fought by himself and others, while highlighting that their is still plenty of work to be done.
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