Ma submission tae the Scottish Human Rights Commission haes been taen on bi the commission in their SNAP report.
They’v taen on the stigma thaim wi Scots face:
Addressing stigma and social attitudes
A large number of responses agreed with the reality described in ‘Getting it Right?’ of the existence of many negative and discriminatory social attitudes in Scotland society towards a large number of marginalised groups, which could directly and indirectly impact on their human rights, including: children of prisoners, ethnic minorities, migrants, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, kinship children, LGBTI people, looked after children and young people, disabled people including those with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems and psychiatric patients, Scottish and Roma Gypsy/Travellers, speakers of Gaelic and Scots language, recipients of welfare benefits, as well as negative attitudes, harassment and bullying derived from discrimination on the basis of age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity.The issue of intersectionality was also raised – whereby many of those suffering from discrimination and harassment did so from a number of perspectives, i.e. because they were female, from a minority ethnic group and disabled. This raised a question as to whether exploring these social attitudes through a lens of human rights could be a better way of addressing negative social attitudes , rather than exploring them in silos.
The issues aroon aboot lairnin in Scots.
An this:
Education
Respondents noted that access to Gaelic-medium education is limited and also that there are no Scots language-medium schools. Where some local authorities (such as Glasgow City Council) were acknowledged for a progressive approach to Gaelic-medium education, the practice across local authorities is inconsistent. It is at the discretion of each local authority to develop this form of education or not and some individual responses reported facing resistance when trying to pursue Gaelic-medium education.
An this on linguistic richts:
Linguistic rights
A final issue raised in relation to empowerment was that of linguistic rights. As was raised by ‘Getting it Right?’, a number of responses agreed that the lack of access to English language courses for migrants was impacting on their ability to fulfil their rights such as the rights to education and work. Some responses called for more resources, services and support to build capacity in the skill to teach English as a foreign language.
A small number of submissions also highlighted a gap in ‘Getting it Right?’ which related to discussing the lack of adequate protection for linguistic minorities in Scotland, including the rights of Gaelic and Scots speakers.
Whilst acknowledging efforts that have been made (for example by BBC Alba and Glasgow City Council’s progressive policies in relation to Gaelic-Medium education), concerns were raised about the future of minority languages in Scotland. For example, responses cited a reduction in active Gaelic speakers from 250,000 in 1871 (5 per cent of population) to fewer than 60,000 at the 2001 census (1.15 per cent of thepopulation). Language was considered to be inextricably linked to cultural self-esteem and economic development and it was noted that Scots and Gaelic:
“are languages that are native to Scotland [and] we have an additional moral obligation to protect and preserve the languages and the rights of those who speak them.”