Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2022 on Ratification of the Istanbul Convention, HCWS34, and the decision to apply a reservation to Article 59 of that Convention, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of safeguards for protecting migrant women in Wales from gender-based violence.

On 21 July, the UK Government ratified the Istanbul Convention, sending a strong message across the UK, and around the world, that this Government is committed to tackling violence against women and girls.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2022, we decided to apply a reservation to Article 59, which relates to residence permits for migrant victims of domestic abuse, to enable us to ratify, pending the evaluation findings of the Support for Migrant Victims (SMV) scheme pilot. We will carefully consider the findings of the SMV pilot to inform any future policy decisions as soon as is practicable.

We are committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse, regardless of immigration status. £1.4 million of funding has been allocated in 2022-23 to continue to fund support for migrant victims of domestic abuse.