Asked by Baroness Donaghy To ask Her Majesty’s Government
whether the proposed Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill will include
measures to prevent violence against women and girls as well as
criminal justice measures to deal with perpetrators. The Minister
of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, this Government are...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the proposed
Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill will include measures to
prevent violence against women and girls as well as
criminal justice measures to deal with perpetrators.
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of
Trafford) (Con)
My Lords, this Government are committed to a rigorous and
comprehensive consultation on the proposed domestic
violence and abuse Bill to identify all the legislative and
non-legislative measures that we can take to truly
transform our approach to domestic abuse. The Government
recognise that it is critical to look beyond criminal
justice measures and also to focus on what we can do to
prevent abuse and violence in the first place.
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(Lab)
I thank the Minister for that reply, and I am reassured by
it. Could she give an indication of when the Bill will be
before us? Has she consulted the various women’s groups
which have expressed anxiety up until now about the narrow
scope of the Bill? For instance, Women’s Aid has made a
number of recommendations about mandatory relationship and
sex education. Has she consulted it? When will we be
looking at the Bill?
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The noble Baroness is absolutely right to make the point
about engagement with the various women’s groups and
charities. Of course, they are the best placed to advise us
on the Bill going forward. We are putting out a
consultation document and I fully expect that the types of
groups she talked about will be fully engaged with it.
Other issues will also come out in the consultation process
so we will have a well-informed Bill when it comes forward.
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(Con)
My Lords, what progress has been made in tackling attacks
with acid? Acid attacks cause horrific injuries and have a
dreadful impact on people’s lives.
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My noble friend is absolutely right to raise this issue; it
has been quite prevalent in recent months. Back in July,
the Government put in place an action plan to tackle the
use of acid and other corrosive substances in violent
attacks. It was based on four key strands: ensuring
effective support for victims, effective policing, ensuring
that the relevant legislation is understood and applied,
and working to restrict access to acids and other harmful
products.
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(LD)
My Lords, lesbians, gay men, trans men and trans women are
also victims of domestic violence and are often very
isolated. Can the Minister assure the House that, alongside
other people’s, their access to services is always taken
into consideration in the consultation on the strategy and
will be safe?
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The noble Baroness makes a very valid point about LGBT
victims of domestic abuse, because, of course, they are not
exempt from the violence that people suffer. Any LGBT group
can make representations to the consultation, and we have a
national helpline for LGBT victims of domestic violence. We
also made it clear in our national statement of
expectations on domestic violence that we expected anybody
who needed help to receive it, irrespective of their
sexuality or, indeed, their sex.
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(Non-Afl)
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that Women’s Aid has
raised concerns about the suggestion that refuges be
localised. Will she ensure that the proposed Bill provides
for mandatory nationwide access to refuge services and
resources for all those who seek refuge?
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I was part of the conversations on local delivery that took
place in DCLG. We made it clear that we thought local areas
were best placed to deliver the services appropriate to
their locality, and set out the national expectations for
delivery at a local level. We also made it clear that if
things did not work out locally, we were prepared to
legislate. However, the national statement of expectations
seems to be playing out quite favourably.
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(Con)
My Lords, as Victims’ Commissioner, I have not been privy
to the preparation of the Government’s consultation on the
domestic abuse Bill. Therefore, will my noble friend the
Minister say whether the Bill will include statutory
provisions to prevent perpetrators of abuse pursuing their
victims through the family courts?
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My noble friend makes a very good point about victims of
domestic violence who quite often face further intimidation
and, I would say, abuse as perpetrators seek to pursue them
through the family courts. Certainly, the MoJ is
considering this issue in relation to victims of domestic
violence in the family courts.
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(Lab)
My Lords, can I assume that the proposed Bill has adequate
measures to deal with the acid attacks as raised by the noble
Baroness?
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As I said to the noble Baroness, the Government are certainly
looking at how we can prevent acid attacks, in a domestic
violence setting or otherwise. The consultation will be an
opportunity for people to bring forward suggestions about
what should be included in the Bill.
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The Lord
My Lords, while recognising that faith communities have
serious issues of domestic violence abuse within themselves,
does the Minister also recognise that they contribute a great
deal to tackling it through organisations such as the
Mothers’ Union, Restored and Kahrmel Wellness, and that
today, 16 days of global action begin to try to raise
awareness of domestic violence and abuse?
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I absolutely recognise that and praise the Church for what it
does not only in raising awareness of domestic violence but
in giving advice, sometimes extremely effectively, to those
affected and, indeed, to perpetrators.
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(CB)
My Lords, bearing in mind the fragile state of the prison and
probation services, can the Minister please tell the House
what additional measures the Government propose to give the
criminal justice system to enable it to deal with
perpetrators?
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One of the suggestions that has been made, which the
Government are actively considering, is to recognise in law,
in sentencing, the terrible effect that domestic violence has
on children. There could be as few as one witness of domestic
violence but it will not only affect the rest of their lives;
there is also a societal effect, and this cycle of abuse can
go on.
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