A Parliament for All: Report of the Parliament’s Gender Sensitive Audit

The concept of a 'Gender Sensitive Parliament' is recognised internationally and resulted from research that showed women’s representation in Parliaments was not reflective of their representation in society and that they were denied real power in those Parliaments. The Scottish Parliament has carried out what is known as a ‘gender sensitive audit’ of its rules, practices and culture and this report makes a number of recommendations to address the issues highlighted by this audit. Change is needed but it is not going to happen overnight or without political commitment, so there are a mixture of short, medium and longer term recommendations. It is also important to note that assessing a Parliament for its 'gender sensitivity' is not a one-off event. Progress needs to be monitored, data needs to be analysed on an on-going basis, and further changes made.