Violence Against Women and Girls 2022-04-25
2022-04-25
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question addresses the government's efforts in tackling violence against women and girls, noting that such violence is horrific and endemic.
What steps her Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls?
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government. Since publishing our cross-Government tackling violence against women and girls strategy last July, we have launched a communications campaign to challenge perpetrators and to drive rejection of these awful crimes. We have supported the introduction of a new national policing lead and provided more than £27.5 million for 79 local projects to improve women's safety in public spaces.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The questioner welcomes the government's plans to tackle domestic abuse and asks if the hon. Friend will join him in supporting these measures.
Will my hon. Friend join me in welcoming our plans such as the tackling domestic abuse plan, which, alongside the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, will play a vital role in stamping out these horrific crimes?
I thank my hon. Friend for his astute observations and strongly agree that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is absolutely vital as part of our package of measures to respond to violence against women and girls. The House will like to be reminded, no doubt, that it contains measures to ensure that serious criminals, including sex offenders, will be punished more harshly and spend longer in prison.
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Assessment & feedback
The questioner's call for support was not directly addressed; the answer focused on explaining the Bill.
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
The Home Affairs Committee published a report on rape investigations and prosecutions recommending specialist RASSO units for all police forces.
When will the Government make sure that all police forces have specialist RASSO—rape and serious sexual offences—units within their constabulary?
I thank the right hon. Lady for all the work that she is doing, across the piece, on tackling violence against women and girls. She is right to say that this is a huge priority for the Government. On training for police forces, she will know of the work that we are doing in the end-to-end rape review.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific timeline was not provided; instead, details on current efforts were given.
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
The Home Office consultation linked viewing violent pornography to aggressive attitudes towards women.
What action is my hon. Friend taking to address that really worrying issue, particularly given the Online Safety Bill that is currently going through the House?
I thank my right hon. Friend for her continuous involvement in and advocacy on these issues. She will know that the Online Safety Bill includes a range of measures to make the internet much safer for everybody. Everybody should have a right to view the internet without coming across this disgusting material.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific actions taken or planned were not detailed; emphasis was placed on measures in the Online Safety Bill.
Response accuracy
Q5
Partial Answer
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Context
New figures show long waits for rape victims to go to court.
Is it not the case that under the Tories dangerous perpetrators are being let off and vulnerable victims of this awful crime are being terribly let down?
This is exactly why we have introduced to the House the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. If the hon. Lady was listening to my earlier remarks, she would have heard me setting out the stronger sentences, the increase in electronic tagging for these perpetrators and the raft of protections to keep women and girls safer.
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Assessment & feedback
The criticism was not directly addressed; instead, measures from a bill were highlighted.
Changing Subject
Response accuracy