About Equally Safe at Work

Equally Safe at Work was developed to support the implementation of Equally Safe, Scotland's national strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. The strategy, which is jointly owned by Scottish Government and COSLA, recognises that violence against women is a cause and consequence of wider gender inequality. Addressing gender inequality in the workplace is therefore a fundamental step in preventing violence against women.

An expert advisory group was established to oversee the Equally Safe at Work pilot. Members include Scottish Government, COSLA, Improvement Service, Engender, Zero Tolerance, and Scottish Women’s Rights Centre.

Equally Safe at Work was piloted in seven local authorities across Scotland between January 2019 to November 2020. For more information about the pilot, you can read the evaluation report.

Equally Safe at Work is now being rolled out to another cohort of 9 councils.

Equally Safe at Work is currently being piloting in the NHS and third sector. The NHS boards participating in the pilot are Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway, Public Health Scotland, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. The third sector employers are ACOSVO, Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland, Enable Scotland, PKVAS and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire.

The pilot will be running until July 2023 and will be followed by an evaluation.

Close the Gap is Scotland’s expert policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market participation. Close the Gap has been working with employers, policymakers, trade unions, and employees for two decades to influence and enable action to address the causes of women’s inequality at work. More information on Close the Gap's work is available on our website.