Violence against Women and Girls

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank my hon. Friend for making that fundamentally important point in the Chamber. I, too, am horrified at the horrific racially motivated sexual attacks that seem to be increasing at the moment. This Government are committed to tackling all forms of hate crime. Violence and abuse directed at women and girls because of their race is totally unacceptable and heinous. Where attacks are racially motivated, police can pursue them as racially aggravated offences, which attract tougher and higher sentences. These offences often include assault, harassment and criminal damage, and I am proudly working with some brilliant organisations, such as Southall Black Sisters, Karma Nirvana and Hibiscus, as part of our strategy to halve the level of violence against women and girls.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank my hon. Friend for supporting her constituents so diligently, and for raising this matter with me today. The Government are committed to ensuring that victims of domestic abuse can access the support that they need to get safe accommodation to rebuild their lives. Under part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, local authorities in England are required to assess the need for safe accommodation and commission specialist support for victims and their children. To support that delivery, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will provide nearly £500 million over the next three years for accommodation for domestic abuse victims who are homeless and eligible for that accommodation. Offenders released from prison are subject to licence requirement conditions, and my hon. Friend's constituent should be receiving support from her victim liaison officer.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank the right hon. Lady for raising that issue. I had hoped to drop in to the event that she hosted yesterday in Parliament to meet Jean directly. Ministerial responsibilities meant that I was unable to do so, but I will commit today to meeting her and Jean to discuss this matter. The right hon. Lady will know that the Law Commission is looking specifically at desecration of a body; that work is ongoing. The Government will look carefully at the report to see what more we can do.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I welcome that really important question from the hon. Gentleman, and he is right to address this issue. A core part of our violence against women and girls strategy is tackling the online proliferation of harmful narratives that are being pushed on our young men and boys. Last week, the Deputy Prime Minister and I hosted a roundtable across Government, with the Secretary of State for Education present, to look at how best we can support our men and boys in a positive way to provide them with opportunities going forward, so that they are not being pushed the message that they are to blame and are toxic. I want to be very clear that “toxic masculinity” does not mean that all men are toxic—that is a really important point to make.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank the right hon. Lady for raising that issue. I had hoped to drop in to the event that she hosted yesterday in Parliament to meet Jean directly. Ministerial responsibilities meant that I was unable to do so, but I will commit today to meeting her and Jean to discuss this matter. The right hon. Lady will know that the Law Commission is looking specifically at desecration of a body; that work is ongoing. The Government will look carefully at the report to see what more we can do.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee for raising this issue. It is a horrific statistic that she cites, but sadly it is not uncommon across all professions, including comedy and music. Our violence against women and girls strategy is holistic, so that we can take a whole-society approach to tackling the issue that she raises, which includes changing the culture going forward. I have been pleased to work with a brilliant organisation called No Stage for Abusers, which looks specifically at this issue. I would be happy to work with my hon. Friend and the Women and Equalities Committee to see what more we can do to support self-employed women and to tackle the harassment that they face in the workplace.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, which builds on another question that I previously answered. We need to take a holistic approach to tackling violence against women and girls, which means involving every Government Department. I am really pleased that the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology was present at the roundtable hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister last week, which looked at how best to support men and boys and at how we can tackle the issue she raises. This is about working with Ofcom to look at what more we can do to support the regulator and to prevent algorithms from pushing harmful content to our men and boys, but it is also about supporting teachers in the workplace to ensure that they feel safe and can escalate issues as they occur.

Answer from Alex Davies-Jones

I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for her question. I had the privilege of meeting the Katie Trust last week to discuss that precise issue, and later today I am meeting Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse and Dr Anna Hopkins to look at what more we can do. The hon. Member will know that the Law Commission is reviewing the law of homicide to look at precisely the issue she raises. That work is ongoing, and the Government will examine the recommendations when they come forward.