On Sunday night, six men took to the BBC debate stage to make the case for why you should vote for them at the next Scottish Parliament election, happening in just three weeks’ time. Six party leaders. Six men. 

But it wasn’t always like this. In 2016, four of Scotland’s five main parties were led or co-led by women. Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson, Kezia Dugdale and Maggie Chapman were leading the way for women’s representation in politics and now, less than a decade later, the debate stage tells a very different story. 

At the Young Women’s Movement, we believe that politics belongs to young women just as much as anyone else. It’s the air we breathe, the rent we pay and the rights we hold. It shapes our healthcare, our safety and our futures. And yet our research tells us that young women are feeling unheard, underrepresented and disengaged from traditional politics. One in two young women in Scotland don’t trust politicians to advocate for their human rights, and 58% feel they have no involvement in decisions about how Scotland is run (SYWS 24-25). This is why we recently launched Young Women Demand – a young women-led campaign that aims not only to engage more young women in democracy, but to ensure their voices and demands are at the heart of it. The all-male line up of Sunday night’s debate only makes that work feel more urgent. 

So, what has changed since 2016? And why does it matter for young women? 

Part of the answer lies in a report published earlier this year from the Jo Cox Civility Commission, and its findings are stark. Gender-based online abuse directed at MSPs increased more than a hundred-fold in a single year between 2023 – 2024, and women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled politicians and LGBTQ+ representatives experience this abuse at significantly higher rates than their white, able-bodied, male, counterparts. The report revealed that many women standing as candidates are avoiding certain political activities, such as hustings or discussing certain topics, not because they have nothing to say, but to protect themselves from abuse that the system has consistently failed to prevent or punish. 

Widespread misogyny and gender-based violence in both digital and physical spaces is becoming normalised, and young women are being disproportionately affected. Even more concerning is how we are already starting to see its impact on democracy, which appears to be playing out in Scottish politics right now. Despite sustained efforts from the Equal Representation Coalition, women are withdrawing from public and political roles. This is evident in the significant number of female MSPs standing down ahead of the next election, and in the absence of women leading Scotland’s main political parties. When women are driven out of political spaces due to unchecked and often unpunished abuse, it sends a powerful message to every young woman watching. 

At our Young Women Demand roundtable, online abuse was raised repeatedly as a significant barrier to democratic participation for young women and girls – not just the experience of it, but the anticipation of it. For many young women, the threat of abuse alone is enough to make them question whether speaking out, standing up for something they care about or making themselves visible is worth the risk. When women are pushed out of political spaces, the next generation of young women don’t just lose role models, they lose proof that they belong there at all. As Dr Mhairi Crawford from LGBT Youth Scotland reminded us at the roundtable “You can’t be what you can’t see”. 

The Jo Cox Commission’s report offers a set of recommendations for tackling abuse directed at politicians in Scotland. It calls for political, digital and media literacy to be made compulsory in schools, including education that actively challenges harmful stereotypes around gender, race and disability. 

It calls on the Scottish Parliament to prioritise its Gender Sensitive Audit (a review of how Holyrood functions through a gendered lens) and to establish an independent panel for harassment complaints. It recommends expanding the Parliament’s social media monitoring service, which tracks abuse directed at MSPs, so that every MSP is automatically protected, as well as mandatory induction training covering online safety, active bystander training and respectful politics for all MSPs and their staff.

These are all practical, achievable steps and the Commission makes clear that taking an intersectional, gender-sensitive approach to political institutions improves the experience of everyone, because “inclusion is essential for the functioning of a robust, respectful democracy.” 

Yet, our Young Women Demand roundtable highlighted something the Commission’s report does not fully address – that structural change must go hand in hand with a culture in which misogyny is actively and publicly called out whenever and wherever it happens, and that includes in Parliament. Participants called for political parties to be brave in naming and challenging misogynistic behaviour, and to provide meaningful protection and support for women within their own movements who experience online abuse, rather than leaving young women to navigate this alone. 

The Young Women Demand manifesto goes further still, calling for robust regulation of digital technologies to address the wider issue of online violence against young women and girls. We are also asking the next government to commit to the prevention and elimination of violence against young women and girls, through the provision of sustained funding for women’s and youth organisations. And finally, we are demanding equal opportunities for young women to get involved in politics, democracy and decision-making, because a parliament that is safe and representative is one where young women finally see themselves reflected. 

The question of ‘Where are all the women?’ goes beyond the all-male line up of Sunday night’s leaders’ debate. It is a reflection of a political culture that has not yet been made safe or accessible enough for young women.  

Young women have always had something to say about their rights, their safety and the kind of Scotland they want to live in. What they need is a democracy safe and inclusive enough to say it in. Young Women Demand exists to make sure that happens – and with a new Scottish Parliament forming after May 7^th, we aren’t just asking.

We are demanding it. 

Register to vote before 20th April, sign our manifesto, and tell every young woman in your life to do the same.