Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Violence against Women and Girls

Monday 23 March 2026 · 3 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 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Catherine Fookes asked about economic abuse affecting survivors' ability to rebuild their lives and businesses after leaving abusive relationships.
  • The Minister committed to annually updating Parliament on progress in metrics related to the violence against women and girls strategy.
  • Clive Jones highlighted a case where a constituent experienced coercive violence and minimal police response, leading to a short prison sentence for her abuser.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Catherine Fookes Lab Monmouthshire
Women & Equalities
Context

The question addresses the cross-Government strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. Survivors in Monmouthshire face economic abuse which continues even after leaving abusive relationships, impacting their ability to rebuild lives.

Question

Survivors in Monmouthshire tell me that economic abuse not only featured in their relationships but stopped them rebuilding their lives long after they left. For some, the separation compromised their business. Others face continued control through child maintenance disputes. In what measurable ways will the VAWG strategy tackle economic abuse, and how will progress on that be reported to the House and elsewhere?

Answer from Jess Phillips

In the launch of the violence against women and girls strategy, I committed to annually updating the House on progress across a number of metrics—both the overarching metrics, and those that sit in different Government Departments. On working with the financial sector and regulators, the strategy talks about exploring how financial products, including joint mortgages, can be used as a tool of abuse. We will work with Departments such as the Treasury to monitor progress against all our aims, and I will report on that annually.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific measures within the strategy addressing economic abuse are not detailed, only broadly mentioned.

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Q2 Catherine Fookes Lab Monmouthshire
Women & Equalities
Context

The initial question asked about the steps being taken to help tackle violence against women and girls, focusing on the cross-Government strategy.

Question

What steps she is taking to help tackle violence against women and girls.

Answer from Jess Phillips

We are delivering the cross-Government freedom from violence and abuse strategy, published in December, which sets out concrete actions for halving VAWG in a decade by preventing violence and abuse, pursuing perpetrators, and supporting victims. As part of that, we have already launched our behaviour change campaign, rolled out domestic abuse protection orders, and embedded domestic abuse specialists in police control rooms under Raneem's law.

Answered
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Q3 Clive Jones Lib Dem Wokingham
Crime & Law Enforcement Women & Equalities
Context

The question addresses a constituent's experience of coercive violence, where the perpetrator returned to the home despite her objections and continued assaulting her daily. The police response was inadequate, and there are concerns about future targeting.

Question

One of my constituents suffered such coercive violence that her partner forced her to allow him back into the home. She could not tell anyone, and he continued to assault her daily. She reported the behaviour to the police, but they did very little. He is in prison for less than five years, and authorities are concerned that he will target her again when he is released. What is the Minister doing to ensure that women are properly protected against coercive violence, and that ex-partners face justice?

Answer from Jess Phillips

I send all my sympathy to the hon. Gentleman's constituent, who sounds like she has had a terrible ordeal. Off the top of my head, one measure that the Government have rolled out is the domestic abuse protection order, which gives police the power of arrest if it is breached. It is the first domestic abuse order that can be taken out for coercive and controlling behaviour. The evidence so far on the police response to those orders, compared with other orders, has been really heartening.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer does not directly address future protection after release from prison or measures to ensure justice for ex-partners.

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