Tag: call for evidence

Women and Equalities Committee launches new inquiry into Misogyny: the manosphere and online content

Westminster’s Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) yesterday (Friday, 9 May) launched a new inquiry into Misogyny: the manosphere and online content.

The inquiry will explore the prevalence and impact of misogynistic views, attitudes and behaviour among young men and boys, particularly in schools and educational settings and the reasons for this.

It will examine ways that boys and young men are also being harmed and if better support, activities and services need to be available to them. 

MPs on the cross-party Committee, chaired by Labour MP Sarah Owen, will examine evidence of rising misogyny among young men and boys, and the role of social media and online communities, referred to as the ‘manosphere’.

It will also look at how online content and the availability of violent pornography, is contributing to sexist and misogynistic attitudes, behaviour and violence against women and girls both online and offline. 

The inquiry will examine how social media influencers are shaping attitudes towards women and girls and the strategies and interventions needed to address this. 

It will also assess what role social media companies and online platforms are playing in the promotion of misogynistic content and what policies they have in place for deplatforming or demonetising this content. 

WEC held an evidence session on April 29 with Jack Thorne and Emily Feller, executive producers of the hit Netflix drama Adolescence, exploring the impact of toxic online misogyny on young men and boys, as well as the public and political reaction to it. WEC’s predecessor committee held an evidence session in May 2024 on incel culture.

Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) Chair Sarah Owen MP said: “The recent television drama Adolescence brought into sharp political and public focus the burgeoning issue of misogynistic views and behaviour among young men and boys and the questions over its prevalence, particularly in schools and educational settings. 

“With young people spending significant amounts of time online, the Committee want to conduct a timely assessment of the drivers for such attitudes, as well as explore the complex interplay with social media content, the online manosphere and violent pornography.        

“This inquiry will examine what more could be done both on and offline to address these trends, and also feeds into WEC’s wider scrutiny of Government work to tackle violence against women and girls.”

Terms of reference

The Committee invites written submissions through the inquiry website addressing any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference by Friday, 6 June 2025.

  • How prevalent are misogynistic views, attitudes and behaviour among young people today, particularly in educational settings? What examples are there of these views, attitudes and behaviours? In what other settings are such behaviours prevalent? 
  • How is content on social media and online, such as violent pornography, contributing to sexist and misogynistic attitudes and behaviour and violence against women and girls both online and offline? 
  • How are social media influencers shaping attitudes towards women and girls? 
  • What role are social media companies and online platforms playing in the promotion of misogynistic content?  
  • Who is gaining financially from the marketisation of misogyny online, and how? What policies do social media companies have in place for deplatforming or demonetising this content and are they enforced? 
  • What strategies and interventions are needed to address misogyny among young people?

Costs of leaving abusive relationships to be explored by MSPs

Victims of domestic abuse are among those invited to share their views as part of a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the financial implications of leaving an abusive relationship.

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee is running the inquiry to find out what support women leaving abusive relationships can access, how public sector and social security rules and practices take account of financial issues in these circumstances and how much information and advice women have access to.

Since 2018-19, Police Scotland has recorded over 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse each year, however, research from Scottish Women’s Aid suggests that the actual figure is much higher as not all incidents are reported to the police.

Reports of domestic abuse can rise substantially over the Christmas period, a time when family finances can be at their most stretched. Research from charities including Refuge and Women’s Aid has found that this, alongside the pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis, can effectively trap victims of domestic abuse.

The Committee’s inquiry will explore economic abuse, a form of coercive control where an abuser restricts a person’s ability to get, use and keep money or other economic resources.

It is also likely to cover the Scottish Government’s work on violence against women and girls, including its Fund to Leave pilot project and its Equally Safe strategy. The Fund to Leave offered women up to £1,000 to pay for the essentials they need when leaving a relationship with an abusive partner and was delivered by Women’s Aid groups.

Collette Stevenson, Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, said: “The Christmas period should be a time where women can get together with their families. But sadly for many women suffering from abuse Christmas can be a lonely and terrible time, with economic abuse trapping them in abusive relationships.

“We know that over 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse are reported to the Police in Scotland each year, and we want to use this inquiry to learn about the support available to women in this awful situation and get an idea of what else can be done.

“If you have any experience of this issue, or work for a charity or public body that supports women in this situation we want to hear from you. Share your views with us by responding to our call for views.”

The call for views opened on Friday 13 December, and will close on Thursday 20 February.

To ensure that people can respond in full, the Committee welcomes receiving anonymous responses, where appropriate.

Acceptance of cash to be investigated by Treasury Committee

Westminster’s Treasury Committee is asking for evidence as it examines whether rules are needed to govern the acceptance of physical cash in the UK, ahead of public sessions which could begin in December. 

Though the use of cash has declined over recent years, it remains a vital resource to many, with around 3.1 million people in the UK relying almost entirely on cash as a form of payment. Research indicates that the use of cash can provide a vital lifeline to groups such as those with long term poor health or people at risk of economic abuse. 

The Bank of England has noted that the decline in cash usage is increasing the infrastructure costs of retaining physical cash as a viable payment method, which could lead to disruption for businesses and consumers. 

Others have highlighted the dangers of an overreliance on digital payments, suggesting cash acceptance should be viewed as a form of civil preparedness. There are currently no regulations which require businesses to accept cash.  

Submissions can be made via the Treasury Committee website evidence portal. 

Call for evidence

Evidence submitted to the Committee should seek to answer one or more of the following questions: 

What is the current state of, and recent trends in, physical cash acceptance in the UK? Any forecasts on physical cash acceptance would be welcome.  

  1. Are there groups in society which disproportionately rely on businesses and public services accepting physical cash?
    • What challenges do they face? 
  2. Should the Government require parts of the economy to always accept physical cash?
    • Are there individual sectors of the economy where physical cash acceptance is particularly important, and should be protected?
  3. What are the practical challenges that businesses might face from having to always accept physical cash?
    • How do these challenges differ between large and small businesses?
  4. What would the costs to private firms and the public sector be from any imposed requirements to always accept physical cash?
  5. How might any requirement for certain firms and public services to always accept physical cash affect financial services firms, especially those related to the provision of physical cash?
  6. Are there any other areas or particular sectors where a decline in cash acceptance would cause problems? 

New Holyrood inquiry launched into poverty-related stigma 

MSPs have today (Wednesday 26th January) launched a call for evidence on the impact of poverty-related stigma, after being told by experts that negative and discriminatory attitudes towards people living in poverty are continuing to blight the lives of people across Scotland. 

The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Poverty, which brings together MSPs from all parties with organisations working to tackle poverty in Scotland, have issued the call as part of their new inquiry into the causes, impacts of and solutions to poverty-related stigma in Scotland. 

At an evidence session held yesterday (Tuesday 25th January) as part of the inquiry, MSPs heard evidence from Professor Imogen Tyler (Lancaster University), Professor Tracy Shildrick (Newcastle University) and Dr Greig Inglis (University of the West of Scotland).

The three academics, all of whom specialise in the links between stigma and poverty, told the inquiry that: 

  • Stigma is created by a combination of factors, including media depictions of poverty and the creation of media and political narratives that portrays people on low incomes as ‘undeserving’ of support 
  • Negative experiences of public services, for example experiences of judgemental attitudes from staff, can entrench feelings of stigma and shame 
  • Stigma is directly linked to poorer mental health and lower levels of wellbeing 
  • Key to tackling stigma is to involve people with experience of poverty in the design of services, particularly the social security system. 

Now, MSPs have issued a call for written evidence to be submitted to the inquiry. They’re asking for people and organisations from across the country to feed in their experiences and perspectives of poverty-related stigma, to help inform and shape their final report, which is due to be published in May.

As well as the call for written evidence, the group will also be holding further evidence sessions with people working in the media, as well as with people who have experience of poverty. 

Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Too many people living on low incomes across Scotland face challenges and barriers because of the stigma associated with poverty.

“This can impact on the kind of support people are able to access, the treatment by public services, the media and the wider public, and most importantly on individual mental health and wellbeing. 

“The Cross-Party Group on Poverty’s new inquiry offers the opportunity to explore some of the drivers of poverty-related stigma as well as, importantly, what the solutions are.

“Critical to the success of the inquiry will be the involvement of people with experience of poverty, who will help shape the inquiry’s findings and key recommendations.”

Pam Duncan Glancy MSP, Deputy Convenor of the CPG on Poverty, said: “Stigma is not only unfair and causes real pain for people, it stops people accessing the essential support they need. That traps people in poverty.

“People in Scotland living in poverty need support and action, not blame and suspicion. They have seen far too little support for far too long.

“If we’re to reduce poverty in Scotland, we have to end the stigma of it, and take down all barriers to getting support.

“I am pleased the Cross Party Group on Poverty have created an opportunity to dig deeper on this. This will give us a clearer idea of how to break down barriers – and empower people to speak up and reach out when they require support.”

For full details on the call for evidence, including how to submit your views, click here.

Edinburgh Poverty Commission: ‘Prospects’ – Phase II call for evidence

The Edinburgh Poverty Commission is working throughout this year to define the steps the city needs to make to reduce, mitigate, and prevent poverty in Edinburgh. Continue reading Edinburgh Poverty Commission: ‘Prospects’ – Phase II call for evidence