I spoke today in the chamber about a brave woman who sought help through my office. She is a working mother of four and a survivor of domestic abuse. Her case has stayed with me, because the more you look at it, the more layers there are - and at almost every stage, the system has let her down.
She did everything we ask of women in her position. In March 2025, she and three of her children sought safety with Glasgow Women’s Aid. She went through the court process and was granted a Non-Harassment Order, trusting that this would finally give her and her family some protection.
Instead, the system failed her. Through an admitted error, the court disclosed her confidential address to her abuser in official paperwork. This should never have happened, and the court has acknowledged that the fault was theirs.
That single mistake has had life-altering consequences. Because of safeguarding rules, her and her children now have to leave their accommodation. Through no fault of her own, a working mother who followed every rule cannot rely on the system to keep her safe.
And this is where another layer of failure becomes impossible to ignore: housing.
We have applied for housing on her behalf, but the reality is stark. One of the properties we applied for had more than 150 applicants. Despite everything she has been through, she was not even ranked in the top 20 for priority.
What does that say?
Because of this uncertainty, she has now had to give up her job. She has no idea where her base will be, how far she may be moved, or how she could realistically stay in work while trying to keep her children safe and in school. A woman who wanted to work, and did work, has been pushed out of employment through no fault of her own.
There are simply too many layers to this case where things have gone wrong; justice, safeguarding, housing, and now employment - and each failure makes the next worse. This is not about one bad decision or one unlucky break. It is about systems that do not speak to each other and do not put women and children first.
It also exposes a wider problem in our housing policy. We are simply not building enough family homes. Where are the three-bedroom and four-bedroom homes for families like hers? Too often, the housing that is being built does not reflect the reality of family life, particularly for women with children who need space, stability and proximity to schools and support networks.
It also forces us to reflect on missed opportunities. Pam Gosal MSP brought forward a Domestic Abuse Bill intended to strengthen protections and close gaps exactly like these. That Bill did not pass. Looking at her experience, it is difficult not to ask whether stronger legislation and clearer safeguards could have prevented what has happened.
Politics aside, I want what is best for Glasgow. I want to see new homes built - whoever builds them - because families like hers cannot wait. But building homes means little if the people who need them most cannot access the right ones. Protection orders mean little if they expose women to further harm. Apologies mean little if the consequences are carried entirely by the victim.
I include myself in this too. How can we be getting this so wrong?
When the state makes an error and a woman loses her safety, her home and her livelihood as a result, the failure does not belong to her - it belongs to us.
