Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the diversity of the members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in terms of (1) ethnicity, and (2) religion; and what assessment they have made of the value that would be added to the credibility and effectiveness of the EHRC by addressing any deficit in the diversity of the organisation in that regard.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Minister for Women and Equalities has recently announced five appointments to the board of the EHRC, to take effect from 1 December 2020. With these appointments, the EHRC board will have four permanent members, out of 14, from minority ethnic backgrounds. This exceeds the government’s aim for 14% of all public appointments to come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2022.
One member of the EHRC board identifies as Muslim, seven as Christian, two as having no religion and four prefer not to say.
The government is committed to maintaining diversity of appointments to the EHRC board.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are (1) Black, or (2) Muslim, and what steps (a) they, and (b) the EHRC, plan to take to improve ethnic and religious diversity on the EHRC.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Minister for Women and Equalities has recently announced five appointments to the board of the EHRC, to take effect from 1 December 2020. With these appointments, the EHRC board will have four permanent members, out of 14, from minority ethnic backgrounds, including one black commissioner. This exceeds the government’s commitment and ambition for 14% of all public appointments to come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2022. At the moment, one member of the EHRC board identifies as Muslim.
The government is committed to maintaining diversity of appointments to the EHRC board.
At executive levels the EHRC, as an independent body, makes its own operational decisions about staff appointments.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that Uighur Muslim women have been subjected to forced abortions and womb removals, (2) that Uighur children are being separated from their parents and placed in orphanages, and (3) of the treatment of those children in such orphanages, in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are deeply concerned by reports of suppression of birth rates and the mistreatment of Uyghur children in China, including reports of children being forcibly separated from their parents and placed in state run institutions. As the Minister for Asia set out during an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on 9 September, we are seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. On 25 September, at the UN Human Rights Council, I also raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including credible reports of forced labour and forced birth control in the UK's 'Item 4' national statement. It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities' own figures show a drastic decline in birth rates in Xinjiang. These reports add to the growing body of evidence about serious and widespread human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. We continue to raise our concerns at the UN, and directly with China.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle misogyny and racism experienced by Muslim women.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This government recognises the discrimination and intolerance faced by Muslim communities. We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted.
The Government has taken steps to combat anti-Muslim Hatred through supporting Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with just over £2.8m between 2016 and 2020 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred.
In addition, the Places of Worship protective security funding scheme, which provides security measures for mosques and other places of worship, has been allocated £3.2m for 2020-21, double what was awarded last year.
We also funded a national public awareness hate crime campaign in 2018 and 2019 which includes a specific example of anti-Muslim hatred to make clear the Government’s position that such incidents are unacceptable and are a crime.
The Home Office have also funded specific locally targeted projects including through the Building Stronger Britain Together programme tackling both the far right and perceptions of Islamophobia
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports of (a) forced abortions and (b) removal of wombs among Uyghur Muslim women.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Reports of suppression of birth rates add to our deep concern about the situation in Xinjiang. It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities' own figures show a drastic decline in birth rates in Xinjiang. We have repeatedly condemned the egregious abuses of human rights perpetrated against Uyghurs in Xinjiang - including at the UN and directly with China.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is providing to migrant women who have experienced domestic abuse during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the covid-19 outbreak, and victims of domestic abuse are treated first and foremost as victims. That is why the Home Office launched the #YouAreNotAlone campaign to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse, regardless of immigration status, are aware that existing sources of support remain open to them, such as the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, which is staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year, by a dedicated team of experts.
The campaign has been backed by an additional £2 million in funding to support technological capability, such as online services, helplines and technology support. £12 million of this funding has already been allocated. The advice and information from the campaign has been made available in multiple languages to reach out to as many people as possible, including languages from Asia/South-East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The campaign has so far generated almost 250 million impressions.
In May, the Government announced £76 million of the £750 million package of support for charities would go towards groups supporting survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence and modern slavery?as well as to ensure that vulnerable children and young people continue to get the help they need.
MHCLG have so far awarded £8.76 million through the Domestic Abuse Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund. Over a third of successful applications include organisations providing specialist support services and safe accommodation for BME, LGBT and disabled survivors of domestic abuse. Moreover, £22 million of the £76 million support package is being distributed by the Ministry of Justice to 548 local domestic abuse and sexual violence charities in England and Wales.
The Home Office is providing £2 million in extraordinary funding for domestic abuse support services to support national charities who would not be eligible for the support that is being distributed by either the MHCLG or the MOJ. The Bid Prospectus made clear that charities who support victims of domestic abuse with no recourse to public funds were eligible to apply. Successful applicants include; Karma Nirvana, the Muslim Women’s Network, the Black Association of Women UK and Southall Black Sisters.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 21 January (HL158), whether they have made any recent estimate of the number of women and girls raped by Muslim men involved in grooming gangs since 1997.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Government does not hold data on the religious beliefs of perpetrators of rape and there is no data that delineates sexual offences which might be described as “grooming gang” offending from other forms of sexual offending.
The Government has estimated that there were approximately 6,850 victims of organised child sexual exploitation in the UK in 2015. This estimate includes all forms of child sexual exploitation and does not distinguish between rape and other sexual offences. It includes organised child sexual exploitation committed by groups and gangs within a range of contexts.
The Government is developing a first of its kind national Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which will set out our long-term ambition in tackling all forms of child sexual abuse.
Our new strategy, which will be published this year, will set out our whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse and how we will work across government, law enforcement, safeguarding partners and industry to root out offending, protect victims and help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will work tirelessly to end these heinous crimes; there will be no no-go areas
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) BAME, and (2) Muslim, women’s organisations are allocated enough funding to meet service demands.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government?continues to play a facilitative?role?in ensuring?Government?understands?the needs of BAME communities, including Muslim women, and the challenges they?may be currently?facing?in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is some evidence to suggest that BAME communities may be disproportionately affected by coronavirus.
There is a substantial package of targeted support for charities on the frontline of responding to COVID-19. The £750m DCMS-led funding package that the Government has announced will support organisations working with vulnerable groups impacted by COVID-19, including some in BAME communities.
Of this funding, £370m will support smaller, local charities working with vulnerable people. In England, this support will be provided through the National Lottery Community Fund. More details of the funding criteria and application process will be released in the coming days via the National Community Lottery Fund. £60m of the funding will be allocated through the Barnett formula so the devolved administrations are funded to provide similar support in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. DCMS always strives to engage with and represent all British people in its work, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
A further £360m will be distributed between Government departments to provide targeted support to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. This funding will not be allocated via an open bid but will be awarded in line with agreed departmental priorities, with the first £76m going towards supporting survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence, vulnerable children and their families and victims of modern slavery announced on 02 May.
As part of this, MHCLG launched a £10m ‘Domestic abuse safe accommodation: COVID-19 emergency support fund’ for charities providing safe accommodation for domestic abuse victims to bid directly into (attached) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-safe-accommodation-covid-19-emergency-support-fund). This includes charities that provide specialist services such as those dedicated to supporting BAME victims. The deadline for charities to put forward an application is Thursday 21 May.
Departments, including MHCLG, continue to work at pace to ensure this funding reaches the areas of greatest need as quickly as possible, with the aim for our key partners to receive money in the coming weeks.
In addition, for 2020/2021, MHCLG has launched a new competitive grant scheme, with a budget of up to £2m for established community organisations and charities to carry out projects that promote shared values and integration, whilst tackling the harmful behaviours which lead to religiously and racially motivated hate crime. We welcome proposals from projects supporting the BAME community and Muslim women.
The Home Offices’ Building a Stronger Britain Together programme is also continuing to support BAME communities and Muslim women’s organisations within its network. These civil society organisations work within communities to tackle all forms of extremism; support victims of extremism and hate crime, as well as challenging the divisive, extremist narratives targeting minority communities. Preparations for 2020/21 delivery of the BSBT programme are currently underway. The programme uses robust grant standards to ensure our funding delivers the greatest impact for these organisations in tackling extremism issues.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate to ensure that women in Islamic faith marriages can seek redress through the courts in the event that the marriage breaks down.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The law has long made provision for couples, including Muslim couples, to marry in their place of worship in a way that gives them legal rights and protections. The Government shares the concern that some people may nonetheless marry in a way that does not, and without appreciating the consequences.
The independent Sharia review has recommended that it should be an offence for religious celebrants to carry out a ceremony that is outside the ambit of the Marriage Acts. Any legislative proposal, including such an offence, must be thoroughly assessed for its fairness to all religious groups and for how far it could achieve the change of practice intended. That is why it is with the greatest care that the Government is continuing the exploration of both limited reform and non-legislative options that it began in detail in the spring.
Separately from this exploration, the Law Commission began its weddings project in July last year. It will make recommendations for how the wider law on getting married in England and Wales can be systematically reformed in a way that is simple, fair and consistent.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of women and girls raped by Muslim men involved in grooming gangs since 1997.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has estimated that there were approximately 6,850 victims of organised child sexual exploitation in the UK in 2015. This estimate includes all forms of child sexual exploitation and does not distinguish between rape and other sexual offences. It includes organised child sexual exploitation committed by groups and gangs within a range of contexts.
In early 2020 the Government will publish a national strategy, the first of its kind, to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse.
Our new strategy will set out our whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse and how we will work across government, law enforcement, safeguarding partners and industry to root out offending, protect victims and help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. Their will be no no-go areas.