South Lanarkshire's Partnership on Gender-Based Violence

Our Gender-Based Violence Partnership brings together key universal and specialist agencies who meet on a quarterly basis.

The partnership aims to:

• Raise awareness of gender-based violence
• Consider service developments to improve good practice and outcomes
• Promote the development of skills and knowledge within the workforce
• Improve partnership working and communication between organisations

Our new Equally Safe Strategy 2025-2030 should be available to download shortly. You can download a copy of our Public Protection Strategy 2025-2028.

An umbrella term that encompasses a spectrum of abuse experienced mostly by women and perpetrated mainly by men including:

• Physical, sexual and psychological abuse, including domestic abuse and rape
• Sexual harassment and intimidation
• Commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking
• Harmful cultural practices, including 'honour' based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation

For the purpose of the Strategy, we have used the Scottish Government's definition of Gender-Based Violence:

"Gender-Based Violence is a function of gender inequality and an abuse of male power and privilege. It takes the form of actions that result in physical, sexual and psychological harm or suffering to women and children, or affront their human dignity, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. It is men who predominantly carry out such violence and women who are predominantly the victims of such violence'.