Violence against Women and Girls Strategy

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I absolutely agree. Schools need to play a vital part, as do the tech companies that have been identified, but absolutely there is a need for parents, who are often pulling their hair out trying to know the right thing to do. Parents who become abuse victims by children with some of those attitudes is a long under-served group within violence against women and girls. If we look at the femicide data, the number of matricides speaks to a broader problem. Ensuring that parents are part of the solution will be part of the strategy.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

Tackling violence against women and girls demands that victims be at the heart of decisions, and robust action. I look forward to the publication of the strategy. Does the Minister agree that locally commissioned domestic abuse services should have statutory representation and multi-agency risk assessment conference boards, backed by dedicated funding to strengthen support, improve safeguarding and deliver better criminal justice outcomes?

[Jess Phillips]

As somebody who has sat on a number of multi-agency risk assessment conferences over the years, what I will not do is just do what lots of people have done before. It is very easy to stand up and say, “a multi-agency response is the response to that”, but it just becomes words. It actually has to mean something. The strategy is not just something for one partner to do; it is for all of them.