“The refusal to acknowledge the need for safe, same‑sex accommodation for women is not oversight. It is vile indifference — the quiet cruelty of those who choose not to see.” - Seumas Oniwaasu Omowale O'Duibhin.

A Moral Question to the Leaders of This Nation

There are moments in a nation’s life when silence becomes complicity.
When those entrusted to serve turn their backs, choosing the comfort of not knowing over the burden of responsibility.
When institutions adopt the old creed of cowards — I see no evil, I hear no evil, I speak no evil — as if refusing to acknowledge suffering could absolve them of the duty to end it.

These are the moments that define a country’s character.
Not in speeches, not in slogans, but in the quiet decisions that determine whether the vulnerable are protected or abandoned.
And tonight, across Scotland, those decisions will determine whether a homeless woman sleeps in fear, or maybe gets no sleep at all.

For in cities, towns, and rural communities across this nation, women with nowhere else to go will be placed in mixed‑sex hostels, hotels, and B&Bs — environments where safety is uncertain, privacy is fragile, and trauma is often reignited.
Not because Scotland lacks the means to protect them.
Not because safer alternatives are unknown.
But because the system has chosen to look away.

This is not conjecture.
It is the public record.

In February 2025, Petition PE2147, submitted by Laura Jones on behalf of the Scottish Tenants Organisation, called for the creation of women‑only homeless accommodation.
The petition arose from lived experience — from women who have endured fear, exploitation, and retraumatisation in mixed‑sex temporary accommodation.
The Scottish Government’s own submission acknowledges that women’s experiences of homelessness are different, and that emergency accommodation must not deepen the wounds of domestic abuse, mental illness, or disability.

And yet, despite this knowledge, Scotland still offers no guaranteed women‑only emergency accommodation.

England does.
Wales does.
Northern Ireland does.
Ireland does.
Scotland does not.

A nation is judged not by its declarations, but by the conditions in which it allows its most vulnerable people to live.
Tonight, Scotland is failing that test.


THE FORENSIC QUESTION

Why does Scotland — alone among the UK nations — provide no guaranteed women‑only homeless hostels, hotels, B&Bs, or emergency accommodation, despite decades of violence against women, despite international obligations under the Istanbul Convention, and despite formal warnings from frontline workers, survivors, and national organisations?

We ask you to answer, publicly and without evasion:

  1. Why does Scotland provide no guaranteed women‑only emergency accommodation, when every other UK nation has recognised the necessity of such provision?
  2. Why are women fleeing male violence placed in mixed‑sex environments, often unstaffed overnight, where fear becomes a nightly companion?
  3. What safeguarding assessments have been carried out on the impact of mixed‑sex temporary accommodation on women, including:
    • harassment
    • assault
    • coercion
    • retraumatisation
    • mental health deterioration
    • avoidance of services due to fear
  5. What evidence — if any — has been used to justify the absence of women‑only provision?
    If councils or ministers have claimed such accommodation is “not needed”, we request the names, dates, and authors of those statements.
  6. Why has Scotland failed to meet its obligations under the Istanbul Convention, which requires gender‑specific safe accommodation?
  7. What is the Government’s timeline for establishing women‑only emergency accommodation in every local authority area?
    If no timeline exists, what moral reasoning supports that decision?
  8. Who accepts responsibility for the fact that tonight, in Scotland, a homeless woman has no guaranteed safe place to sleep?


THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL QUESTION

It is a question of dignity.
A question of humanity.
A question of whether Scotland will continue to look away from the suffering of women who have already endured more than most of us will ever understand.

A society reveals its character in how it treats those who have nothing left to lose.
If we cannot guarantee a woman a safe place to sleep, then our claims to fairness and equality are hollow.


THIS BLOG HAS BEEN SENT TO:

( every MSP, every Council Leader, the First Minister, the Housing Minister, the Health Minister, the Mental Health Minister, the Equalities & Human Rights Minister, and all relevant working groups.)

Each recipient will see the full list.
Each will know that every other leader has been asked the same question.
No one will be able to claim they did not know.


THIS IS THE FIRST STEP

This blog is a public record.
A marker.
A refusal to accept silence.

And let it be understood:
When a nation fails to protect its women, it is not the women who are diminished.
It is the nation.

Next:

  • A Twitter/X thread linking to this blog
  • A Facebook post carrying the full text
  • A formal email to every recipient
  • A podcast episode documenting the issue

A country that cannot guarantee safety cannot claim justice.
We await your answers.

This is what dignity looks like. A warm, safe space where women can rest, laugh, and belong — not because they were lucky, but because someone did their duty. This is the outcome when a nation chooses protection over neglect, courage over convenience, and moral responsibility over silence. Every woman deserves this. Every leader is accountable for whether she receives it.