At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP urged the government to act with urgency to tackle violence against women and girls, as he stated that it should not take victims, including those like Vikki Solomon and Stacey Hunter, to lose their lives before proper action is taken.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has repeatedly pressed the government over their failure to implement important domestic abuse protections, which are still not in force despite being passed by parliament five years ago.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for:

• Homes with a history of domestic violence should be properly flagged for priority police call outs;
• Abusers out on bail should be subject to GPS monitoring and face severe punishment for breaching their conditions;
• Police, and courts, should be given the power to remove violent men from family homes.

Speaking in the chamber, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

In our last exchange before recess, I asked the First Minister about protecting women and girls from male violence. In the following month, three Scottish women died at the hands of men. I went to the funeral of one of them.

Vikki Solomon was 44. She was a mum. A passionate advocate for the beauty industry. She was known to several of us here in this chamber.

She called the police asking for help, following an assault by the man who, hours later, would go on to kill her. The police did not attend.

Stacey Hunter was murdered, by an ex-partner, out on bail, who should have been nowhere near her.

Can the First Minister see: there is a pattern here, of women being let down by the system, horrifically let down, and with fatal consequences?

He went on to say:

Just this week, we’ve seen campaigners say legislation isn’t making a difference for women.

I want the government to succeed in this, but it shouldn’t take barbaric acts of violence for all of us to wake up to what’s really going on out there.

Because in the first half of this year, reported domestic abuse was up by nearly 20%. Too many women are living in fear.

There’s more we can do:

• Homes with a history of domestic violence should be properly flagged for priority police call outs;
• Abusers out on bail should be subject to GPS monitoring and face severe punishment for breaching their conditions;
• Police, and courts, should be given the power to remove violent men from family homes.

So, for Vikki, for Stacey and for all of those currently facing abuse, will this government act with urgency before more women die at the hands of men.