A United Nations (UN) investigator has warned sexism in the UK is more pervasive and "in-your-face" than other countries.
UN special rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo said there is a "boys' club sexist culture" in Britain that influences perceptions of women and girls in the country.
Following a 16-day visit to Britain, Ms Manjoo also warned Government cutbacks have hit violence against women services.
In an initial report on violence against women, the South African human rights expert said legal and policy responses focused on harmful practices, such as early and forced marriages, but ignored the harms coming from a "a sexist culture that exists in the country".
She added: "Have I seen this level of sexist culture in other countries? It hasn't been so in-your-face in other countries.
"I haven't seen that so pervasively in other countries. I'm sure it exists but it wasn't so much and so pervasive. I'm not sure what gives rise to a more visible presence of sexist portrayals of women and girls in this country in particular.
"What is clear from these indications of portrayals of women and girls is that there is a boys' club sexist culture. That exists and it does lead to perceptions about women and girls in this country."
Following visits to Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Leicester, Belfast, Cookstown, Cardiff and Bristol, Ms Manjoo said she had identified "isolated pockets of good practice", however, these were still not practised consistently throughout the country.
She said many groups had raised the impact of austerity measures, adding that cuts were having a "disproportionate impact" on the provision of violence against women services, as well as other areas affecting women, such as poverty and unemployment.
The special rapporteur said: "Access to trauma services, financial support and housing are crucial, yet current reforms to the funding and benefits system continue to adversely impact women's ability to address safety and other relevant issues."
She also raised concerns about the impact of legal aid cuts on women who have experienced domestic violence, as well as the overall numbers of young women in prison being too high.
In her report, Ms Manjoo said it was of "regret" that despite repeated requests her access to privately-run Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire was denied.
The Serco-run facility has been subjected to heavy criticism by human rights campaigners amid reports of sexual misconduct by staff, women being detained for long periods of time and pregnant detainees being held without justification.
Last month, Jamaican detainee Christine Case, 40, died in the centre after suffering what is thought to have been a heart attack.
The UN special rapporteur said: "I regret that, despite my repeated requests, a visit to Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre was not facilitated by the Government, and that my access to the Centre was denied, when I tried to visit it independently.
"Due to receiving information from the third sector, I was keen to speak to detainees in this facility to objectively seek information on violations being experienced."
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Violence against women and girls in any form is unacceptable and the Government has shown its commitment to ending it.
"A comprehensive programme was drawn up for the Special Rapporteur's visit, including meetings with the Home Secretary, the Minister for Crime Prevention, and the Chief Inspector of Prisons. Several other options, including a trip to a women's refuge, were turned down by the Special Rapporteur.
"A tour of Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre was never agreed as part of this fact-finding mission."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article