ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE EMPOWERING WOMEN PANEL

The Importance of Accountability
 
Accountability is a top priority for members of the Empowering Women Panel; we are keen to see how decision makers are taking responsibility for ensuring visible differences are made to the lives of women, girls, and non-binary people in Scotland. A starting point was discussing what accountability means to us in the context of the Scottish Government.    
 
Our understanding of accountability is guaranteeing that people do what they say they’re going to do. Which, in terms of our work on the panel, involves asking questions of the Scottish Government and civil servants about how they are progressing gender equality across Scotland.
 
We’re also interested in the question of who holds other organisations and public bodies to account - like knowing funding is being spent properly and that gender equality is taken into consideration. While we watch as services diminish and waiting lists increase, what does the public actually see in return for the money that is being spent and are women and girls’ lives reflected in decision-making?
 
The Accountability Process
 
The Empowering Women Panel has been part of an accountability process with the Scottish Government and the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). This has included sharing our lived experience and reporting on the impacts of current policies on our lives and those of women and girls we know.
 
We were invited to ask questions about key areas of importance to us, including intersectionality, mental health, and the value placed on care. We did not feel encouraged after reading responses to our scrutiny questions; the answers we received from civil servants were vague, written in inaccessible language, and showed no signs of change. 
 
The Accountability Event
 
In February, the group attended an Accountability Event with the National Advisory Council, then-Deputy First Minister, and civil servants from across government where we asked attendees to make a pledge about how they will personally and collectively work towards inclusion of the most marginalised women and girls.
 
Panel members were nervous beforehand – not because we are afraid of speaking truth to power, but because we didn’t know if we would be taken seriously, or if anything would happen as a result of us sharing our stories. 
 
A huge amount of work went into preparing for the event: learning to interview our peers to better understand their experiences of the cost-of-living crisis; writing and practising our stories to share during the presentation; spending time in art workshops and at home to produce creative responses; and organising childcare so we could attend these activities. Our session at the Accountability Event was the result of hours of input from panel members and peers.
 
Highlights of the day include the NACWG sharing their power with us and acknowledging our contributions, and policy makers experiencing as they related what we told them to their own work. This human-to-human interaction gave us a glimmer of hope that we have made a difference, and that future policy may reflect that.
 
However, our hope diminished slightly during the afternoon session between the NACWG and the Scottish Government, when civil servants’ inaccessible language and well-worn answers returned, and we were left wondering if there would be any lasting effect from our efforts.
 
We are eager for decision makers to take intersectionality into account when developing and implementing policy. That requires considering the layers of disadvantage facing Scotland’s most marginalised women and girls. These layers are not just about protected characteristics—age, disability, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ identity, etc.—but also situations such as poverty, low mental health, rural isolation, and digital exclusion.
 
The panel was, however, encouraged by our April meeting with former First Minister Humza Yousaf and Deputy First Minister Shona Robison. We felt listened to and as if our concerns had been heard. We understand that change is a feature of government and hope that the new administration carries on from where the previous one left off. The panel is building momentum that must not be lost if real change is to happen.
 
The Future
 
The Empowering Women Panel is a great resource to those in power and there is a real opportunity to demonstrate that their lived experience is valued and will be learned from. We are passionate about holding the Scottish Government to account, but the process must be accessible, meaningful, and value our participation. 
 
We are looking forward to meeting the new First Minister, John Swinney, and continuing to make an impact, now and in the future.