: Will the First
Minister provide an update on the Government’s strategy to tackle
the growing problem of stalking?
(First Minister of
Wales): Llywydd, we are strengthening our violence against
women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy to include
stalking and harassment of women and girls in public spaces as
well as in the home. Tackling misogyny and male violence lies at
the heart of our approach.
: Diolch, Brif
Weinidog. I welcome your answer. In 2012, following a campaign
led by the former Plaid Cymru MP , new laws came into force that,
for the first time, recognised stalking as a specific crime. My
Plaid Cymru colleague also played a pivotal role
in this campaign. With this being National Stalking Awareness
Month, I would like to urge the Welsh Government to do more to
tackle this crime and support victims.
Nearly 1.5 million people in Wales and England are victims of
stalking every year—a crime that has grown since the start of the
pandemic—and with over 80 per cent of victims who call the
national stalking helpline being female and the perpetrators
generally being male, stalking is clearly a gendered crime.
Between January 2020 and March 2021, worryingly, only two full
stalking protection orders, or SPOs, were granted in Wales,
despite 3,000 stalking offences being reported to the police. Has
the First Minister approached Wales's Police and Crime
Commissioners to urge them to set up specialist support for
victims of stalking and training for police officers? And will
the Government also address the lack of SPOs and ensure that
counselling for victims of stalking is also included in its
violence against women and girls strategy? Diolch.
(First Minister of
Wales): Thank you very much for the questions.
There was a series of important points made by the Member there.
Just to be clear, Llywydd: we do not agree with the approach of
the Home Office, which seems to place the focus on women acting
to protect themselves by altering their behaviour rather than
changing the attitudes and behaviours of those who carry out the
abuse. Now, here in Wales, we have a programme as a Welsh
Government of raising awareness, better identification of
stalkers, regional training for practitioners in order to address
some of the problems that the Member raises. Of course, much of
what she says, as she acknowledged, lies in the hands of the
police, the non-devolved service. But I can absolutely assure her
that the Welsh Government continues to engage directly with the
four police forces in Wales on this matter.
, as the Minister responsible, met
the national—by which I mean UK—police lead for violence against
women on 1 December. She chaired the police partnership board on
2 December, and that included an update on the police's
contribution to the consultation on the VAWDASV strategy from
chief constable Pam Kelly, the chief constable of Gwent. And
was again engaged on 19 January
with the lead police and crime commissioner for
Wales, where discussions included the issue of misogyny. So, our
aim is to use our powers as much as we are able to, in that
consciousness-raising way, in making sure that practitioners are
well equipped, but to work with the police as well, so that they
exercise their responsibilities and their powers in Wales that
are effective against the issues that the Member raised.
