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I am keen to understand the financial impact of the pandemic, particularly on disabled women but also on unpaid carers. In her opening remarks, Jenny Miller made a point about families being expected to pick things up and someone being told, “You’re their mum—you should just do it.” I recall, and I thought that it would be nice to put it on the record, that when I finally got the social care and support that I needed, my mum said—I remember this very specifically—“I can now be your mum and not your carer.” I was 18, incidentally, so she had done that for 18 years. It is very important that we do not make assumptions about unpaid care.

Will you both say a little about the financial impact of the pandemic and how helpful the support that was put in place, such as the doubling of the carers allowance supplement, has been?

Thank you for that information, Dr Scott. It is grim, but I appreciate you sharing it with us.

This question is possibly for Eilidh Dickson. You note that the way in which social security is designed is often one of the reasons for women’s inequality persisting. What do we need to look out for in relation to devolved benefits in Scotland? More specifically, is there anything that we need to do differently so that we do not replicate the existing problems?

Good morning to the panel members, and thank you for the written submissions that you have sent in. I also put on record my thanks for the work that you have done in all the years that you have been doing it, but in particular for your work during the pandemic. It has been a particularly hard time, especially for women and for your organisations, so I thank you for that.

First, I am keen to talk about the impact of the pandemic. Zero Tolerance’s written submission highlights that

“the failure to address equality and human rights in the terms of reference for the Covid Inquiry indicates that we have some way to go in the mainstreaming of equality and human rights.”

I ask Laura Tomson, Eilidh Dickson and Marsha Scott to tell us a bit about the effects of the pandemic on women, particularly in relation to domestic abuse? Are the fears about the effect of lockdown on violence against women and girls being realised? What can we do to improve the work of the inquiry in that regard?

I asked about the realisation of the fears, at the early stages of the pandemic and throughout it, that lockdown would have a significant impact on violence against women and the violence that they experience.

Good morning to the panel, and thank you for the submissions that you sent us in advance of the meeting, which have been really helpful. I put on record again my support and thanks for the work that your organisations have done not just in this year, which has been particularly difficult, but in all the years that you have been working with the people whom you work with.

My first question is about the context of the pandemic. Zero Tolerance said in the submission that it sent to us that the

“failure to address equality and human rights in the terms of reference for the Covid Inquiry indicates that we have some way to go in the mainstreaming of equality and human rights.”

Will you talk a bit about whether enough information is available on the effects of the pandemic on domestic abuse and violence against women and, in particular, against black and minority ethnic women and disabled women? Are you seeing some of the fears that have been expressed about the effect that lockdown could have on violence against women and girls being realised? What can we do to encourage the Covid inquiry to look at that as well?

If possible, could Mariam Ahmed and Tumay Forster answer those questions, please?

Yes. I will be brief as I know that we are quite short of time.

Glasgow Women’s Aid spoke to me about problems about the ability of people with no recourse to public funds to access support. Dr Scott, what could we do to address that? Specifically, do you think that women’s aid organisations would be able to use the “it satisfies immediate need for protection of wellbeing” case, which is being used in relation to the Scottish welfare fund during the pandemic, to get funding for a refuge place for someone does not have access to housing benefit that would otherwise be used to pay for it?

It does. That is really helpful. Thank you.

Sorry, convener. Would it be possible to have time to ask another question, or do you want to come back to me at the end?

Thank you. Joy Lewis, Mariam Ahmed and Sara Medel Jiménez want to come in. We will go to Joy next.

I thank the panel for their opening statements and for the testimonies that they have already given. I have been furiously trying to take notes as I have been listening. It has been very helpful. I also thank you for everything that you have done during the past couple of years. It has been a significantly more difficult two years for the people that you represent than for many of us in Scotland.

My first question is about the financial security of the women that you support and the risk that women’s unfair responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work could get worse during the budget process. Farah Farzana, Joy Lewis and Mariam Ahmed might want to answer. Has the ability to find paid work and an income been put seriously at risk during the pandemic? You have already touched on some of that. What is the current picture of the financial situations of the families that you represent?