Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Violence against Women and Girls

Monday 31 March 2025 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 6 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial concerns were raised about abusers falsely accusing victims to maintain control.
  • The Home Secretary acknowledged the critical work of Jayne Ward in supporting rape victims.
  • The Home Secretary committed to publishing a strategy on violence against women and girls before the summer recess.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jess Brown-Fuller Lib Dem Chichester
Justice & Courts Women & Equalities
Context

The Chichester-based charity My Sisters’ House has noted an issue of cross-allegations, where abusers falsely accuse their victims to maintain control.

Question

My Sisters’ House raised the ongoing issue of cross-allegations, whereby abusers are falsely accusing their victims as a means of keeping the control and emotional abuse going. What steps is the Home Secretary taking with the Justice Secretary to ensure that the system properly recognises this form of continued abuse and protects victims from being retraumatised?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

The hon. Member raises an important issue about how coercive control can manifest and how abusers can continue their abuse in different ways, including using the civil courts. Part of the reason for introducing the national centre for public protection is to have the best possible national standards and training properly for the first time across policing and then working across the criminal justice system, in order to keep victims safe.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific steps being taken with the Justice Secretary.

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Q2 Paul Waugh Labour (Co-op) Rochdale
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

At the annual police awards, Jayne Ward received an unsung hero award for supporting rape victims in court.

Question

The hon. Member highlighted the work of Jayne Ward, a sexual assault adviser who supports 150 rape victims and helped secure a conviction against a rapist sentenced to 12 years. Does the Home Secretary agree that we owe a great debt of thanks to Jayne and to the police officers helping to secure such convictions?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

I pay tribute to Jayne Ward for the remarkable work that she is doing to support victims of the most appalling and vile crimes, helping them to get justice and helping them as they go through the criminal justice system. I also pay tribute to the police officers working night and day across the country to tackle sexual assault and abuse.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q3 Karen Bradley Con Staffordshire Moorlands
Women & Equalities
Context

The government has set an ambitious goal to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls.

Question

The ambition to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls is a laudable one, but could the Home Secretary give the House some more information? What number is she taking as a starting point to be halved? When will she be able to provide more information to the House and to my Select Committee?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

I thank the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee for her questions. We are currently drawing up a strategy on violence against women and girls, which will be published before the summer recess and will set out the approach that we need to take and the need to reduce domestic abuse, sexual assaults and stalking—the crimes that are most prevalent and of which women are most likely to be the victims, but which we also need to reduce more broadly. We will set out details on the measures that we will be looking for as part of that strategy.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific baseline figures or timeline.

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Q4 Tonia Antoniazzi Lab Gower
Crime & Law Enforcement Women & Equalities
Context

The Sullivan review highlighted the need for accurate sex-aggregated data in policing and criminal justice.

Question

The accurate collection of sex-aggregated data by police forces is essential to addressing male violence against women and girls. What plans does my right hon. Friend have in place for her Department to implement the recently published Sullivan review?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

I can tell my hon. Friend that we take the Sullivan review extremely seriously. It is important to recognise the difference between biological sex and gender and to make sure that policing and the criminal justice system always have the accurate data that they need.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific implementation plans.

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Q5 Sarah Dyke Lib Dem Glastonbury and Somerton
Crime & Law Enforcement Culture, Media & Sport Women & Equalities
Context

Women are being radicalised into extreme misogyny through platforms used by online influencers such as Andrew Tate.

Question

Women and girls will never truly be safe while terrifying online influencers such as Andrew Tate are allowed platforms that radicalise men and boys into extreme misogyny. What steps is the Secretary of State taking with Cabinet colleagues to support police in tackling violence against women and girls?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

Measures in the Online Safety Act 2023 are being implemented over the course of this year. That includes the introduction this summer of measures expected to ensure that stronger action is taken to prevent young boys and children more widely from seeing inappropriate material, which can be very damaging and very extreme. We also need to work in schools to prevent abuse in relationships.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific steps with Cabinet colleagues.

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Q6 Emily Darlington Lab Milton Keynes Central
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

Rape victims under the previous government faced difficulties in securing justice.

Question

Rape victims were failed under the previous Government, and too few actually got to see the inside of a courtroom. Among those victims were the victims of Andrew Tate here in the UK, who suffered rape and other violence against them. While I know that the Home Secretary cannot comment on the current extradition notice with Romania, what message can she send to those victims, whom I have met and who will be meeting a Minister as well, about their day in court and getting justice?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

My hon. Friend will know that there is a court case under way in Romania and that issues around prosecution and extradition decisions are matters for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. I know that she has worked with victims, including in her constituency, and it is hugely important that victims of appalling crimes have a route to justice, wherever they are in the world.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific message to victims.

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Q7 Katie Lam Con Weald of Kent
Immigration Crime & Law Enforcement Children & Families
Context

In multiple towns, little girls are being groomed and sexually tortured by gangs, with no one convicted for covering up these crimes.

Question

In at least 50 of our towns, gangs of men have groomed and then sexually tortured little girls, with astonishing depravity. Still, not one person has been convicted for covering up these institutionalised rapes. Local inquiries cannot summon witnesses, are being refused by local authorities, and cannot address national policies like deportation. Fundamentally, the Government’s plan will not cover even one in 10 of these towns. Will the Home Secretary explain how she will choose which towns get a local inquiry and what she will say to the victims whose towns will not be included?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

The shadow Minister will know that we have asked the police to reopen cases and historical investigations, because it is crucial that where there is abuse, including historical exploitation and grooming gangs, prosecutions take place and perpetrators face justice for their vile crimes. We are supporting local inquiries and the review by Louise Casey into the scale and nature of exploitation across the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific selection criteria or acknowledgment of limitations.

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