Violence against Women and Girls

The transcript is a record of an Oral Question session in the House of Commons, where several MPs asked the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, about the government's plans to tackle violence against women and girls. The questions were asked by Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley, Lab), Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West, LD), Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby, Lab), Mrs Elsie Blundell (Heywood and Middleton North, Lab), Jess Asato (Lowestoft, Lab), Catherine Atkinson (Derby North, Lab), and Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith, Lab). They all asked what steps the Home Department plans to take to address violence against women and girls. In her response, the Home Secretary acknowledged that for too long, violence against women and girls has been treated as an inevitability, rather than a national emergency. She stated that the government's mission is to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, starting with improving the policing and criminal justice response. Fenton-Glynn praised the government's mission and asked the Home Secretary to look at work done by the Deputy Mayor of West Yorkshire on connecting survivors with the police to ensure a more empathetic response. The Home Secretary agreed, highlighting the work being done in West Yorkshire to improve women's safety and speed up charging for domestic abuse. Jardine welcomed the Home Secretary's comments and agreed that this is a whole-government and whole-society problem, requiring societal change and education, including tackling misogyny. The Home Secretary concurred, stating that the Education Secretary has talked about tackling toxic misogyny in schools. Hume raised the issue of the lack of a women's refuge in her constituency of Scarborough and Whitby, despite the high domestic abuse rate, and asked the Home Secretary for advice on how to address the funding shortfall. The Home Secretary acknowledged the importance of refuges and the impact of funding cuts on local council services, stating that this will be addressed by the Chancellor. Blundell highlighted the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable girls in her constituency and asked what measures the new government will put in place to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. The Home Secretary stated that the focus must be on pursuing perpetrators and ensuring they face justice, in addition to supporting victims. Asato raised the issue of the difficult situation facing specialist charities, with many local services having to close due to lack of funding, and asked the Home Secretary to confirm that Labour's mission will include a review of funding for these services. The Home Secretary emphasized the need for strong partnerships with the voluntary and third-sector organizations to ensure comprehensive support. Atkinson highlighted the high rate of violence against women and girls in Derby and asked what further support the government can provide to make women feel safe in the city. The Home Secretary stated the importance of increasing neighborhood policing to make people feel safe on the streets. Gilbert asked how the Home Secretary will work with the devolved nations to ensure the targets are met. The Home Secretary responded that the mission needs to be addressed across the UK, with partnerships and learning from what has and has not worked in keeping women safe. The Home Secretary also responded to interventions from Conservative MPs, including Rebecca Smith, who asked about the "Male Violence against Women and Girls Report" in Plymouth, and Caroline Voaden, who raised concerns about the impact of widespread access to pornography among children and young people. The shadow Home Secretary, James Cleverly, welcomed the government's commitment to halving violence against women and girls, but raised concerns about the potential for the agenda to inadvertently dissuade women from coming forward. The Home Secretary acknowledged the need to address the prevalence of violence, not just the reporting, and stated that the charge rate and number of prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse are still far too low, requiring a major overhaul of the system.