photo of our demonstration outside Inverness Sheriff Court

On Friday 14th February we held a demo Inverness Sheriff Court ,  to raise awareness of the barriers women face in accessing justice,  as part of this years http://www.onebillionrising.org/.

This Valentine’s Day, women from the Highlands will be joining a major global campaign to end violence against women by staging a demonstration outside Inverness Sheriff Court.
The demonstration will take place on 14th February at 12pm and will bring together women to demand justice for the one billion women across the world who will be raped or beaten i…n their lifetime.
In 2013 Ross-shire Women’s Aid had contact with 426 women and 149 children and young people who had experience of domestic abuse. At this event those in attendance will be calling for criminal cases of domestic abuse to be fast tracked and clustered and for improvements in the civil legal system to ensure women and children are properly protected. The event will be attended by John Finnie MSP and Rhoda Grant MSP as well as women from Ross-shire Women’s Aid and others from across the Highlands.
Heather Williams, Manager of Ross-shire Women’s Aid said, “We have organised today’s event to highlight the barriers which women in the Highlands currently face in accessing justice through the criminal and civil legal systems. With the forthcoming closure of Dingwall Sheriff Court we believe this is the perfect opportunity for the way domestic abuse cases are dealt with are reviewed. We are asking for a commitment that cases involving domestic abuse across the Highlands are fast tracked and where appropriate that they are clustered together. This will allow those involved in the courts to build up further expertise and experience in dealing with these sometimes complex issues as has happened in other parts of Scotland with Domestic Abuse court. It will also ensure that domestic abuse cases are dealt with in a timely fashion.”
John Finnie MSP said, “The shocking statistic that one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten requires us all to act and I applaud Ross-shire Women’s Aid for tackling this issue head on. I look forward to participating in the event at Inverness Castle and considering what concerted action we can take to bring an end to violence against women and girls. What’s abundantly clear is that doing nothing is not an option.”
Rhoda Grant MSP said, “All injustices stem from inequality of power, women will not have full access to justice until we have genuine equality! Until this is achieved we need to ensure that women get protection by the law and justice system.”