Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the annual report on progress on UK ratification of the Istanbul Convention in line with the Government's responsibilities under section 2 of the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK signed the Istanbul Convention in 2012, signalling its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.
The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The third such report was published on 31 October 2019.
We will shortly be publishing this year’s report on our progress, which will set out our compliance position and the steps we are taking towards ratification.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that Article 4(3) of the 2012 Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and girls is ratified into UK law.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK signed the Istanbul Convention in 2012, signalling its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.
The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The third such report was published on 31 October 2019.
We will shortly be publishing this year’s report on our progress, which will set out our compliance position and the steps we are taking towards ratification.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating long-term ring-fenced funding to ensure the (a) sustainability and (b) expansion of local LGBT services delivering specialist support to LGBT domestic abuse survivors.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It is important that all survivors of domestic abuse have access to appropriate support services according to their needs, and a range of funding exists to ensure the provision of such services.
The Home Office has provided £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse. We have provided additional funding to bolster the helpline during COVID-19.
To enable us to better understand the complex landscape for community-based support for all victims, including those who are LGBT+, the Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner has agreed to undertake an in-depth exploration of the current community-based support landscape over 2020/21.
The Government will then work with the Commissioner to understand the needs identified and develop options on how best to address them.