The Advocate-General for Scotland (Baroness Smith of Cluny) (Lab)
The scale of the issue of violence against women and girls is such that this Government are treating it as a national emergency. We will publish a new strategy setting out how we will halve violence against women and girls within a decade, and we hope to publish this before the Summer Recess. Recently, we have taken important steps, including embedding domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms in five police force areas, under Raneem’s law, and funding a new national policing centre for violence against women and girls and public protection, to improve policing response.
Baroness Levitt (Lab)
I thank my noble and learned friend for her Answer. Does she agree that unmarked cars displaying flashing blue lights should be restricted to the absolutely necessary? I declare an interest because, in my former role as a judge, I have dealt with cases of men being stopped in cars that turned out to be fitted with blue lights. Can she explain what steps the Government will take to ensure that women are not fooled into stopping for a car which is not a genuine police car, particularly at night?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
My noble friend raises a very pertinent and distressing question for women, as she says, particularly at night. There are two parts to this answer; the first is on what the Government are doing and the second is on “What should a woman do tonight?” Should individuals be concerned if they are approached by a lone officer or someone in a car that they find suspicious, either because it is displaying blue lights that may or may not be authentic or because it is an unmarked but genuine police car, it is entirely reasonable for that woman to seek reassurance that the person is acting legitimately, and I would expect any officer receiving such a challenge from a member of the public to understand why it is being made and to do what they can to provide reassurance. This remains an issue of huge concern, and the Government will be addressing it through the work of the Angiolini Inquiry. Part 1 of the inquiry reported in February 2024, and we are committed to implementing the 16 recommendations made. Part 2 of the Angiolini Inquiry will look at the role and effectiveness of police initiatives to make women and girls safer when interacting with the police, and I feel sure that this Question will be addressed in that part.
Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Con)
My Lords, if the Government are to succeed in their strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, they must not treat online violence in isolation. How are the Government seeking to tackle the rise in misogynistic influencers who are normalising VAWG among young men?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises another pertinent issue. As she is aware, we have created a new offence in the Data (Use and Access) Bill to criminalise the creation of a purported intimate image, otherwise known as deepfake images, of an adult without their consent or a reasonable belief in their consent. That partly addresses the issue she raises, but it is a bigger issue of education and how we talk to our young people, and that starts in schools. It is essential that online misogyny and online pornography is tackled when they are at a young age and that we have the right messaging. That is part of cross-departmental approach to the strategy that is being written at the moment, where we involve all departments because we need to tackle the issue from a young age on.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
The case of Kyle Clifford, who was a follower of Andrew Tate, has been mirrored by many other crimes that have involved the actual killing or abuse of women. Is it not time that we start to consider this in the same way that we consider terrorism? Had Kyle Clifford been a member of ISIS, that would have been a huge story. Andrew Tate’s influence is now across 80% of all young boys at school, and yet nothing seems to happen about saying that this needs to come up to the level of Prevent, although the same sorts of crimes are resulting.
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
I think the noble Baroness’ comments reflect my comment, indeed my opening sentence, which is that this Government are treating this as a national emergency. On online safety, we are working with Ofcom to ensure that the Online Safety Act is implemented quickly, and Ofcom is already enforcing duties on publishers of pornography. Services within the scope of the Online Safety Act must take action to tackle illegal pornographic content, and the strategy we are working on will take into account all these issues and bring a holistic approach to them.
Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)
My Lords, the domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid welcomed the Labour Government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. However, it also urged the Government to address the funding gap of £232 million that domestic abuse services are experiencing right now. As violence against women and girls offences constitute more than one in six of all offences reported in Britain, how will the Government halve domestic violence against women and girls if those charities are £232 million short before we even start?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
It is vital that we work with the third sector on the strategy and that the Government work with other public bodies and with the private sector. That is why we are engaging across the sector to ensure that the new cross-government approach and strategy is effective. On funding, we have spent £20 million on domestic abuse and stalking perpetrator interventions and £17.4 million on victims services, including national helplines and specialist services, which is an increase of £3 million from the last financial year. There is an additional £27 million to strengthen policing and wider criminal justice system responses and £2.47 million on prevention and early intervention to help stop these crimes happening in the first place. We will be working in the coming weeks to finalise our wider budget in support of the strategy.
Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Con)
My Lords, one of the principal examples of violence against women and girls in recent years was the grooming gangs scandal. While we are disappointed that the Government chose not to establish a full statutory inquiry into this issue, Ministers have now commissioned a rapid three-month audit led by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey. Can the noble and learned Baroness confirm when the audit’s findings will be published and when we can expect to see the Government’s formal response to it?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
I regret to tell the noble Lord that I do not have the date when it will be published, but he can be assured that the utmost attention will be paid to it, in line with our attitude towards all these issues, which, as I described, are a national emergency. The bigger issue that the noble Lord raises is a crisis of confidence in policing; that will be central to the strategy that we write, because we know that the police response to violence against women and girls has not been good enough to date. Victims must feel confident in the police’s ability to handle their case. That is why we have already taken steps by embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and by also seeking to create dedicated domestic abuse teams within every police force, so that these things never happen again.
The Lord Bishop of London
My Lords, the most recent Femicide Census notes that cases of older women who are killed and subject to extreme sexual violence are often seen as not newsworthy. The charity Hourglass, which works to reduce the abuse of older people in the UK, has experienced an increase in calls by 50% over the last two years. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that older women are not forgotten in the development of their strategy?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
It is vital that every woman and child in the UK is included, and that is why we are taking a cross-departmental and cross-sector approach, so that all information, including from the third sector, is captured and fed into the strategy. The Home Secretary has already announced a package of reforms to improve confidence in the policing process, which will go to the heart of some of the issues that are being raised. Much stronger training on violence against women and girls is being offered to police officers, and options are being developed to interact with other bodies that have specialist knowledge. We will integrate that into the strategy.
Baroness Bousted (Lab)
My Lords, 95% of boys watch pornography before they are 18. This can lead to greater acceptance of sexual harassment and violence against girls and women. By July this year, sites offering pornographic content must have in place highly effective age-enforcement action. Is the Minister confident that this deadline will be successfully met, and that children, girls and women will be protected?
Baroness Smith of Cluny (Lab)
The Government are resolute in their commitment to keeping children safe online. I have already mentioned some of the actions of Ofcom. Services in scope of the Online Safety Act must take action to tackle illegal pornographic content, and Ofcom will be able to take robust enforcement action against companies that fail to comply.