I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate on the committee’s report on the vital issue of female participation in sport and physical activity. I am not a member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, but as Scottish Labour’s sports spokesperson, I welcome the important publication, which highlights the significant gender gap between male and female participation.

I commend committee members and the clerks for their work on this extensive and thorough report. It highlights the many and varied barriers that women and girls face and the challenges that we need to overcome.

I have spoken in the chamber about the importance of sport to our society. If we seriously want to tackle gender inequality across society, we must tackle it in sport. I have also spoken about the power of sport and its ability to change lives. Not only does sporting activity promote physical and mental wellbeing, it has the power to tackle antisocial behaviour and many other societal problems.

The power of sport should therefore be harnessed to change the lives of women and girls as much as men and boys. That is, in part, why the committee’s findings are so concerning.

I am a man who loves sport, but I believe that it is vital that the voices of women are heard and elevated. I am pleased that the committee has done so much to listen to and take evidence from women in producing its report. It is clear that we need to address not only the barriers to participation but the challenges and attitudes that many women in sport face every day, on every level, from the grass roots to the elite.

Tennis champion Serena Williams was once asked about being considered one of the greatest female athletes of all time. She responded:

“I prefer the words ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time.’”

She highlights an inequality that women in sport face every day—their gender rather than their sporting ability is seen first and foremost. If that is the attitude towards a sports star at the top of her game, it is clear that all women and girls face a culture that must change. We must change that culture from an early age, which the minister and the convener spoke about earlier.

The report highlights that the current gender participation gap begins at puberty, with just 11 per cent of girls aged 13 to 15 meeting Scotland’s physical activity guidelines. Barriers faced by teenage girls include restricted offerings of sport as well as negative attitudes from boys, which has been mentioned.

It is deeply concerning that girls are given limited opportunities to participate in male-dominated sports such as football, rugby and cricket. It is even more concerning that when girls participate, their male classmates often make comments on their bodies and sporting abilities. We must tackle that body shaming and inequality of opportunity. That is why I fully support the committee’s recommendations to carry out an updated active schools programme evaluation, with a focus on supporting female participation.

The committee also heard, as has been mentioned, extensive and alarming evidence on harassment and abuse towards women while exercising. That is totally unacceptable. Safety is paramount, and I agree with the committee that there has to be a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to the perpetrators of such harassment and abuse.

Active travel infrastructure should also be improved in order to allow physical activity. That should include adequate street lighting, as the convener mentioned, which would allow more women to safely access the outdoors and sporting activity. We know that budgets are limited at present, but active travel is one of the budget lines that is increasing significantly. It is therefore vital that communities and the voices of women are heard on what investment in active travel they want. That is particularly the case when so few women are in senior positions administering that funding, as the report highlights.

Facilities and funding issues were also identified as key barriers, and I have spoken about those with many stakeholders. It is not that long ago that women’s football clubs such as Glasgow City Football Club were forced to use car headlights as floodlights to train at night.

I consistently hear concerns that access to facilities is more restricted for women—for example, men’s teams often get priority bookings on football pitches, and I am glad that that has been acknowledged by the committee. I echo the committee in welcoming the Scottish Government’s commitment to doubling investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year. That is badly needed.

However, that is taking place against a background of savage cuts to local council budgets, which provide so many sporting facilities. Continued cuts to local council sports provisions will hit everyone, but will undoubtedly have a disproportionate impact on women and girls.