Domestic Violence

Sandra Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 29th October 2014 Westminster Hall

[David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea, as we discuss such an important issue. I pay tribute to the House of Commons Library and to Women’s Aid, both of which have been extremely forthcoming with information and statistics for today’s debate.

Domestic violence is a serious crime that costs the lives of innocent women and men across the UK on a weekly basis. The impact of domestic violence on women and children, and indeed men, is devastating and long-lasting.

What is domestic violence or abuse? Scottish Women’s Aid defines it well, saying:

“Domestic abuse is persistent and controlling behaviour by a partner or ex-partner which causes physical, sexual and/or emotional harm. It often gets worse over time…Domestic abuse is not an isolated incident; it isn’t a fight or an argument. There may be no bruises. It is a pattern of dominating and isolating someone through fear and threats or undermining their self-confidence and self-esteem. It can happen if you live with your partner, or if you don’t…It can happen if you have children, and if you don’t…It often involves serious and sustained physical and sexual abuse which can cause injuries and lead to long-term health problems. It can take the form of withholding money and finances, monitoring women and children’s movements, restricting what they wear, who they see, where they go and what they say, on and offline. It can be threatening to or distributing intimate images. It can be manipulating or forcing someone to do something sexual that they don’t want to. It can involve stalking, and isolating women from their friends and family. It can involve physical violence. Women (and their children) are sometimes killed by a partner or ex-partner. It is about control, manipulation and humiliation.”

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

I warmly congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate on an important subject. Does he agree that the coercive behaviour that is implicit in domestic violence is not currently covered by the law?

[David Simpson]

The hon. Lady is exactly right, and I will deal with that excellent point as the debate goes on.

The definition continues—here is the important point in all this—to say that domestic violence

“cuts across class, ethnic and social boundaries…The effects of domestic abuse are wide-ranging; much more than the stereotypical image of the bruised woman. Domestic abuse impacts on health, safety, prevents women and children being able to stay in their own home, limits their education and work opportunities—in short, there is no area of life into which domestic abuse doesn’t intrude.”

All that said, domestic violence is unfortunately not viewed by some as one of the highest profile problems in society, because it quite often happens behind closed doors. Today, I want to challenge the existing mindset, and I stand here to raise awareness and to pledge to my constituents that I will fight against this scourge. I will not wash my hands of this issue and say that it is for other agencies to deal with. I will seek to bring about a change in legislation and an awareness-raising campaign. I want our security forces to dedicate resources to fighting and tackling this hidden scourge.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this afternoon. I congratulate the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on securing a debate on this important issue. I should say at the start that I have been a member of Scottish Women’s Aid for more than 30 years, in a paid and unpaid capacity. I am also a former chairwoman of Women’s Aid, and I currently chair my local group, East Ayrshire Women’s Aid.

Some years ago, we had a strategy of zero tolerance of violence against women to address such violence in general. It had three planks: prevention, protection and provision. We must acknowledge that domestic violence, like all violence against women, has its roots in the patriarchal structure of society throughout the world. It is about an abuse of power. There can be no equality in the public sphere until there is equality in the private sphere. Without that analysis of domestic violence, we will simply get nowhere.

On the issue of protecting those—mainly women, but also men—who have been subjected to domestic violence, we have come a long way. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) talked about a strategy in Northern Ireland; it is great that it is in place, and I think the situation is the same in Scotland and England. This is a UK issue, so we must acknowledge that there are no borders for domestic violence and work together as much as possible. However, strategies are no use without funding; they must be backed up by the funding to carry them through.

We have come a long way in recognising domestic violence as a criminal offence. Thirty years ago, when I got involved in the issue, it was not recognised as one, and certainly not by the police, but that situation has improved greatly. There is now far more inter-agency partnership working, there are things such as interdicts, and there is support for women at court. However, there have also been cuts to legal aid. As I understand it—the Minister will correct me if I am wrong—in England, unless abuse has been reported to the police, legal aid is not available. In most cases, as we all know, it takes a long time for women to report abuse to the police and to get into the court system. There are, however, several measures that some women might want to take, and they might need legal aid to do so.

On the subject of protection, and in line with the Women’s Aid campaign, we must recognise coercive control, and there must be a specific law to deal with it. That would represent a progression from all the laws of the past 30 to 40 years. It would recognise the nature and extent of domestic violence—that it is matter of control and an abuse of power, not just an individual instant when someone loses their temper. My hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie) rightly talked about Scottish men being like Jekyll and Hyde. I have witnessed that many times and concur with his view, but we must ask why that happens. Why do men and some women, not just in Scotland but throughout the world, behave in that manner? There must be something collective about it, not just an individual response. Clare’s law, which was mentioned, is being piloted in my constituency and it will be interesting to find out how that goes, and whether it can be applied throughout the country. I think it already is in England—[Interruption.] The Minister concurs.

It is disappointing that Women’s Aid in England has had to start an SOS campaign. It states that there is a risk of losing the network, and that some refuges have closed. How can that be called progress in 2014, after everything that we have achieved? I believed that there was a cross-party commitment throughout the UK to dealing with the issue, but that is a retrograde step and cannot be allowed to continue. Current provision needs to be maintained and we must have a new model for funding. I remember that in the 16 years when I worked full-time with Women’s Aid, all our time was spent thinking about how to get funding—from the lottery, and from this and that. That is all very well, but there is a need for secure provision, which means putting our money where our mouth is. We need secure funding for Women’s Aid throughout the UK, and I am very supportive of that aspect of the campaign.

The nature and extent of domestic violence is now recognised far more than previously, but still not to the extent it should be. The resources available are not adequate. Studies have shown that men as young as 15 believe that it is okay to hit their partner or girlfriend in certain circumstances. If that is the case, we are failing to educate young people. Last year or the year before, I took part in a cross-party inquiry with the hon. Members for Hastings and Rye (Amber Rudd) and for Solihull (Lorely Burt) about sex and relationship education for young people. One of our recommendations was to make that compulsory so that all young people should have not just sex education—about the mechanics of the situation—but the opportunity to learn about relationships, so how to conduct relationships in which people treat each other with respect. I know that that happens, but it is not compulsory, and I strongly believe that it should be.

I welcome this debate. I hope that the Government will take on board the concerns of Women’s Aid, although I know I would say that, because I am very much involved with it.