NICOLA Sturgeon hasn’t been drawn, in public at least, on which of the three candidates in the SNP leadership race is her preferred choice, but in her address to the Scottish Women's Convention last week, she did do a little speculation on the First Ministers of the future. It was possible, she said, that one of the young women listening to her speech – maybe more than one – would one day rise to become the country’s leader. One of the things she was most proud of, said Ms Sturgeon, was the fact that the current young generation no longer needs to question that women can hold the highest political office in the land.

But Scotland’s first female First Minister was also honest about the battles that are still to be won on women’s rights. Looking back on her eight years in office, she said the work and encouragement of female colleagues and friends had been a vital support to her through sometimes difficult times. The sisterhood was not an abstract concept for her, she said, but something that had sustained her day after day. However, she also expressed concern about the challenges women and girls continue to face in Scotland and around the world: the pushback against abortion for example in the form of protests outside hospitals and sexual health clinics and in the courts in the form of Roe versus Wade. Equality for women, said the First Minister, was an un-won cause.

The First Minister expressed her worries about misogynistic abuse too, and it’s no surprise. Women in all walks of life including politics have always faced sexism, misogyny and abuse – in the workplace, in the street, in public and in private – but in recent years social media has provided a particular platform for it, amplifying the problem and encouraging some to think that they can abuse women with impunity. Ms Sturgeon says she is genuinely worried about the impact it has on women generally, but in particular on the ability to attract women into public life. It’s a troubling thing for a female leader to have to say in 2023 but the First Minister thinks the environment today is more hostile than it’s ever been. It must be challenged.

There have been steps forward: Scotland’s Domestic Abuse law for example was a considerable advance. Coming into force in 2019, the law expanded the definition of domestic abuse in criminal law beyond physical violence to a range of behaviours such as psychological and emotional abuse or “coercive control”. It was a welcome change that recognised the depth of the problem and the multiple ways in which women can be affected by domestic abuse.

But the First Minister recognises – and the next one must too – that more reform is needed to further enshrine equality and fairness in our society. In particular, the Scottish Government must ensure the criminal justice system is working as well as it can for women and girls. It’s why the Government’s proposals for new offences, including misogynistic harassment, are so important. The plans have just been put out for public consultation as one of the last acts of Nicola Sturgeon’s administration and it’s a conversation that really matters. In the words of Baroness Helena Kennedy, whose working group on misogyny led to the proposed law, it’s time to hear from girls and women about what they think should be included in our laws so they can live free from abuse and denigration.

The reform inspired by Baroness Kennedy’s recommendations would make a number of significant changes. It would criminalise misogynistic behaviour, misogynistic harassment, and introduce a new offence of stirring up hatred against women and girls. It would also introduce a specific offence of sending threatening or abusive messages to women and girls which refer to rape, sexual assault or disfigurement and a statutory aggravation on misogyny which would allow the courts to take a misogynistic motive into account when dealing with a crime such as assault, criminal damage or threatening behaviour.

We are still at an early stage of the process obviously, but the proposed law takes the important step of recognising the level of misogyny that exists in Scotland – as the Justice Secretary Keith Brown said when he launched the consultation, women and girls are routinely humiliated, touched, groped, undermined, trolled and objectified online and off, and subjected to threats, harassment and abuse about their looks or desirability. The reform also sends out a clear signal about what is acceptable and unacceptable in Scottish society and seeks to ensure that those who refuse to accept the signal will be brought to account. And it seeks to better identify the particular problems faced by women and the harm caused by misogyny and deal with them.

The Justice Secretary does recognise, quite rightly, that it won’t be easy and that no law, however well framed, can be expected to eliminate misogynistic abuse, or the deeper attitudes which perpetuate it. The experience of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act also taught us how important it is that new offences are clearly defined and understood by everyone who can be affected by them: women and girls, men and boys, lawyers and judges, the police, and everyone working in the criminal justice system. The consultation and implementation must be thorough on this issue to ensure that the law that emerges at the other end is as good and as effective as it can be.

But properly tested by the consultation and its critics, it is reasonable to hope and expect that the new law will make a serious and welcome contribution to tackling and eliminating misogynistic behaviour, its tolerance, and its effects. In her speech last week, the First Minister acknowledged it’s only the beginning rather than the end and that there are still challenges to come on equality and fairness. But she also underlined the aim of the law – to make sure that we have a criminal justice system reflective of a society that works better for women and for girls – and what that means in practice: making the criminal justice system better for victims of sexual violence and sexual abuse.

Ms Sturgeon’s closing message in her speech also struck the right note on what is still a developing story. Directly addressing the young women in the audience, she told them to keep the faith, keep the hope, and keep optimism in their hearts. The talent of young women across our country, she said, is one of the biggest assets this country has and they should take confidence in the progress that has been already been made while also being ready to fight for the progress that is still to be won. “If we pull together,” said Ms Sturgeon, “if we make sure sisterhood is something that we don't just talk about but live, we will win that cause and we will win it in the generation that is coming after us.”

However, the First Minister, as is her style, also had some realism for her audience as well as idealism: faith, hope and optimism weren’t all that was needed in the fight, she said, anger was needed too and she’s right. The sexism, misogyny and abuse that women and girls face in Scotland every day, online and off, should make all of us angry: it’s a disgrace and it’s shameful and every woman and girl should expect to be free of it in a fair and progressive society.

It's clear of course that, in the face of a deep-rooted issue, the Scottish Government’s new law cannot, and will not, put an end to the problem at a stroke; the fight is ongoing. But – properly discussed, properly challenged and properly prepared – reforming and improving the criminal justice system for women and girls can make a serious contribution to making a fairer society happen sooner rather than later.