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Violence Against Women

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Benton. As the Minister said, and as I am sure all Members present will agree, this is an important subject, and I am pleased that the Government have chosen it for this afternoon's Westminster Hall debate. There is a good turnout, with colleagues from across the political spectrum wishing to contribute to the debate. Violence against women remains serious and prevalent: 3 million women in the UK experience violence each year, and victims span a range of backgrounds, races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. Different forms of violence can be linked and do not necessarily occur in isolation. There are, of course, enormous human costs, and enormous financial costs, too. I listened to what the Minister said about a cross-Government strategy, which is welcome. She will know that in 2007, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) called for a cross-Government strategy for ending violence against women. In December 2008 we published our own strategy paper, "Ending Violence Against Women", which was a cross-departmental strategy. That is exactly the type of approach that must be followed. Indeed, WOMANKIND Worldwide, an organisation that works across the world and also does some work in UK schools on violence against women, commented on the publication of our strategy paper, stating:""This is a real breakthrough. If implemented, the strategy would have wide-reaching repercussions for all government departments. The Conservatives have taken on board WOMANKIND'S advice to prioritise prevention through educating young people—and this approach has set the bar for the upcoming Labour strategy. We hope that the Government will include these commitments and take them further."" That organisation is doing work in UK schools to challenge violence and provide some of the education that the Minister touched on, and that sort of education in schools is very necessary. She referred to changing public opinion. One statistic of concern that I noted in a 2006 ICM poll is that 40 per cent. of young men thought that it was acceptable for a boy to expect to have sex with a girl if she was "very flirtatious". Surprisingly, 16 per cent. of girls agreed with that sentiment. Clearly, preventive and educational work in schools is, as she said, extremely important. In the foreword to our 2008 strategy paper, the shadow Minister for Women, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May), stated:""Our vision is for a society in which no woman has to live in fear of violence."" The key point in the document is that we need an integrated strategy across all Departments, not just in the criminal justice arena. That was about dealing with prevention, as well as the consequences; it was about working with schools, the police, health-care professionals and the voluntary sector on preventive measures that prevent violence from occurring in the first place. When it occurs, we must back the services that support and provide advice to women.