Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Kali Mountford (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 7 February 2007 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: Will my right hon. Friend support the campaign that Women’s Aid launched at No. 11 Downing street last week to act against domestic violence? The campaign uses images of very famous women made to look as though they have been abused by domestic violence. That is to make it clear that anyone can be abused, but that everyone should join in acting against domestic violence. We can all be witnesses; we can all take action; and we all should. This is a crime that we should all act against—and we should act now.

Answer: I am happy to support that campaign. As my hon. Friend knows, we have made a substantial investment in tackling domestic violence over the past few years. It is interesting to point out, since we often hear bad news about aspects of the Home Office, that convictions at court have gone up from 8 per cent. to 32 per cent. since the programme was put in place; and the number of victims reporting ongoing violence has gone down from more than 30 per cent. to 10 per cent. We now have 25 specialist domestic violence courts and we are going to expand the number to more than 60 by April this year. In this particular area, the problem was too long treated as though it were peripheral to the concerns of the Home Office and law and order; it is now right at the centre of our concerns.

Secondary information