Mentions:
1: Stevenson, Collette (SNP - East Kilbride) response for victims and perpetrators. - Speech Link
2: Harper, Emma (SNP - South Scotland) We must deliver parity of esteem for domestic abuse services for all domestic abuse victims—of any and - Speech Link
3: McNair, Marie (SNP - Clydebank and Milngavie) those victims of domestic abuse. - Speech Link
4: Brown, Siobhian (SNP - Ayr) of LGBTQI+ experiences of domestic abuse and gender-based violence; and Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and - Speech Link
Apr. 29 2024
Source Page: Domestic abuse: justice partners group - Scottish criminal justice response to incidents of domestic abuseFound: Domestic abuse: justice partners group - Scottish criminal justice response to incidents of domestic
May. 01 2024
Source Page: Updating the domestic homicide review statutory guidanceFound: Updating the domestic homicide review statutory guidance
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the statement entitled Domestic Abuse Commissioner responds to Criminal Justice reforms in the King’s Speech, published on 7 November 2023, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure perpetrators of domestic abuse can be removed from the police force and police staff as well as changes to police regulations to remove warrant cards from police officers under investigation for violence against women and girls offences.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Existing Regulations provide Chief Constables with a power to suspend officers under investigation, including where it is in the public interest to do so.
In February, Government announced that it will legislate for automatic suspension in cases where an officer is charged with an indictable only offence, and a presumption of suspension where an officer is charged with an either way offence. When suspended, an officer is suspended from the Office of Constable and its associated powers. Forces should remove officers’ warrant cards from them where this happens.
The Government is further introducing measures to strengthen the system for removing officers who are not fit to serve. These include a presumption of dismissal where officers are found to have committed gross misconduct and a clarified route to remove officers who fail to hold and maintain vetting.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) evaluate and (b) review the violence against women and girls strategy.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The ambitious cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy set out a series of measures to help ensure that women and girls are safe everywhere - at home, online, at work and in public. This was followed by a complementary Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published in March 2022. So far, we have completed 69% of the commitments across both strategy documents.
Delivery is overseen by a cross-Government VAWG Ministerial Steering Group (VAWG MSG). The last VAWG MSG took place on 1st May and was chaired by the Home Secretary. Part of the meeting focused on accelerating delivery of the remaining strategy commitments.
Many of our interventions are funded through grants awarded to third parties. These grants are actively monitored with recipients providing regular monitoring and end of financial year reports.
We are assessing the overall impact of measures set out in the strategies against the ambition to increase support to victims and survivors and bring more perpetrators to justice.
Our long-term ambition is to reduce the prevalence of violence against women. This is monitored via the published crime statistics, which include police recorded crime and Crime Survey for England and Wales data, as well as via other published criminal justice agency data. The latest data can be found here: Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
Estimates from the 2022/23 CSEW showed that 5.1% of adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse in the previous year (Domestic abuse prevalence and victim characteristics - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)). This was a statistically significant decrease compared with the year ending March 2020 (6.1%), a year largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the same period, the prevalence of sexual assault and stalking has remained stable with no statistically significant changes.
Asked by: Gibson, Kenneth (Scottish National Party - Cunninghame North)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how women’s aid organisations that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded, and what criteria are used for any such funding.
Answered by Brown, Siobhian - Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Women’s Aid groups that are not affiliated with Scottish Women’s Aid are funded in the same ways and with the same criteria as affiliated groups.
The main source of funding between 2021 and 2025 is the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund, the objectives for which are:
In July 2021 all Women’s Aid groups received funding through the 100 Days (COVID emergency) funding. The objectives of the 100 days (COVID emergency) funding were:
An additional grant is being provided from April 2024 to all Women’s Aid groups.
A non-affiliated Women’s Aid group (in Fife) is included in the £500,000 Fund to Leave pilot which was launched in October 2023. This will help to reduce the financial burden of leaving an abusive partner by providing up to £1,000 to help to pay for the essentials women and children need, including rent and clothing. Fife, along with Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire were chosen for the pilot as the local authority areas where there are highest number of presentations to local authorities for homelessness assistance by women due to domestic abuse. The fund is being administered by Scottish Women’s Aid for the 4 affiliated groups with the grant being paid direct to Fife Women’s Aid.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people convicted of assault in a domestic context who were charged with the offence of common assault under Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the data requested. Offences involving domestic abuse can take various forms and are prosecuted under the offence in law that best reflects their nature and circumstances, for example, assault or harassment. These offences can take the form of domestic abuse or non-domestic abuse and data collected from courts does not distinguish between the two.
This Government continues to take concerted action to pursue perpetrators of domestic abuse. We have:
Mar. 09 2009
Source Page: Together we can end violence against women and girls : a consultation paper. 48 p.Found: violence and abuse; domestic violence; 10Percentage of incidents of domestic violencereported to the
Dec. 07 2023
Source Page: More lawyers sought to stop domestic abusers interrogating victimsFound: More lawyers sought to stop domestic abusers interrogating victims
Mentions:
1: Gareth Bacon (Con - Orpington) For context, part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a new civil domestic abuse protection notice - Speech Link
2: Alex Davies-Jones (Lab - Pontypridd) I heard examples of court-mandated drug tests for the perpetrators being taken out of the victim’s legal - Speech Link