Jan. 31 2024
Source Page: Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group minutes: June 2023Found: Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group minutes: June 2023
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) support and (b) resources her Department provides to organisations to (i) address issues related to gender-based violence and (ii) support survivors.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office and wider government committed to over £230 million from 2022-2025 as part of the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, including £140 million for supporting victims. Funding for the National Domestic Abuse Helpline has been doubled, and funding for all the other national helplines supported by the Home Office has also increased.
As part of this commitment, the joint Home Office-Ministry of Justice VAWG Support and Specialist Service Fund will provide up to £8.3 million (in total) from 2023-2025 to ‘by and for’ and specialist organisations to support victims often facing the greatest barriers to getting the help they need.
Activity funded by the Home Office also includes £10.3 million across three years for the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse Fund and up to £1.4 million per financial year for the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme until March 2025.
In May 2023, the Home Office also launched a £300,000 ‘flexible fund’ trial in partnership with Women’s Aid Federation for England to make direct cash payments of £250 to victims and survivors of domestic abuse (£500 to those with children and those who are pregnant) to help remove barriers to leaving an abusive relationship. In November 2023, the Government commitment to support victims was renewed with a further £2m investment into the Flexible Fund until March 2025.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the UK's gender-based violence commitments under the Arms Trade Treaty, what due diligence his Department has carried out on the use of its (a) arms and (b) other military equipment.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. We examine each export licence application for arms and military equipment on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Consideration for the UK's gender-based violence commitments under the Arms Trade Treaty are outlined in Criteria 2, 3, 4 and 6. We draw on a range of sources in making assessments, including NGOs and international organisations, our diplomatic posts and reports from our overseas networks. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle violence against women and girls in conflict zones.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As a global leader on action to address conflict-related sexual violence, the Government has committed £60m to our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative since launch in 2012. The Government has also sanctioned 13 perpetrators for conflict-related sexual violence since 2022. At the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, the UK announced a further £2m funding to refugee and women-led organisations working to tackle Gender-Based Violence in crisis.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle violence against women and girls in conflict zones.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Tackling gender-based violence (GBV) is a priority for the UK, including in conflict zones. We have committed £60 million to the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, including to the development of international guidance such as the Murad Code and support to survivors. At the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, we pledged £2 million to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women to tackle violence in crisis situations, including conflict. In November we announced a new £15 million programme to prevent and respond to GBV in Somalia. We will continue to prioritise efforts to address the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8417 on Bilateral Aid: Gender Based Violence, how much bilateral aid spending (a) his Department and (b) the predecessor Department has used to tackle violence against women and girls in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Ending violence against women and girls overseas remains a top priority for FCDO. Please find a summary of bilateral spend in (a) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development and (b) Department for International Development (DFID) from 2016 - 2022. The sector code '15180', which is used to track spend on ending violence against women and girls, was first created in 2016 with governments only able to report against it since then. The figures presented are likely to be an underestimation as some humanitarian and other sectoral programmes also work to prevent and respond to violence, but are not captured.
(£) Millions | |||||||
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
Department for International Development (DFID) | 1.9 | 11.3 | 18.3 | 29.2 | 25.0 | ||
Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) | 2.8 | 0.04 | |||||
Total for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) | 4.8 | 11.3 | 18.3 | 29.2 | 25.0 | 14.2 | 69.0 |
Source: [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statistics-on-international-development]
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will raise in the United Nations, the issue of gender-based violence by Hamas terrorists.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the shocking reports of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October. It is vital that reports of sexual violence are investigated independently, rigorously and sensitively to avoid re-traumatisation, that perpetrators are held to account and that survivors receive holistic support. We continue to engage regularly with partners, including the United Nations, to urge that all reports of sexual violence in conflict are investigated, that survivors have access to specialized services and justice, and that parties abide by applicable international humanitarian and human rights law.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Northern Ireland Administration on a strategy on ending violence against women and girls.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Secretary of State recently visited the Women’s Aid Federation NI in Belfast as part of the 16 Days of Action against gender-based violence, to hear about this important issue.
It is disappointing that Northern Ireland remains the only region of the UK without a dedicated strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. The UK Government notes the significant work currently underway in the Executive Office to develop a Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Women and Girls. It is vital that the Northern Ireland Executive is restored to approve and implement this strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel on the provision of UK practical support for investigating, and caring for survivors and witnesses of, sexual and gender-based violence committed on 7 October in Israel.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the shocking reports of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October. It is vital that reports of sexual violence are investigated independently, rigorously, and sensitively to avoid re-traumatisation, that perpetrators are held to account, and that survivors receive holistic support. We continue to engage regularly with partners, including Israel and the United Nations, to urge that all reports of sexual violence in conflict are investigated, that survivors have access to specialized services and justice, and that parties abide by applicable international humanitarian and human rights law.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps with international counterparts to help tackle gender-based violence in Colombia.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in Colombia. The UK has provided support to the development of Colombia's first WPS National Action Plan through co-funding consultation workshops with women's rights organisations across the country. We will continue to collaborate with the Colombian government to support implementation.
Colombia is also a FCDO Human Rights Priority country and focus country for the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy. The Colombian Government is a vice-chair of the UK-founded International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. At the UN Security Council, we consistently highlight gender issues related to the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement.