Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges
Baroness Gale Excerpts(3 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, on the cultural points my noble friend references, schools are reflecting wider society so he is right that we need to recognise that there is a role for everyone. The guidance is really clear that safeguarding in a school is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone should be given chapter 1 of KCS and they all should read it, and that means the cleaner and the caterers as well as the teaching staff. There should be an environment within a school where a young person can share with any appropriate adult, and they should know what their obligations are. The guidance is really clear that school staff—whoever they are—should never assume that something has already been reported and it is someone else’s responsibility.
Schools know that they are going to be inspected on this. One of the four pillars of the Ofsted 2019 framework is very clearly around safeguarding. Each pillar stands and is assessed separately, so if you are inadequate for safeguarding you will fail an Ofsted inspection regardless of your educational performance. That is really important for those schools, some of which were named by Everyone’s Invited, that have very good educational records and yet have been found by reports on Everyone’s Invited to be lacking in terms of culture, particularly in respect of girls.
As Minister for the Schools System, I can say that sharing best practice is what the multi-academy trust system is all about. It enables groups of schools to have robust safeguarding training and safeguarding leads that share best practice and concerns regarding pupils as they move from one phase of education to another.
Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]
Does the Minister agree that more work needs to be undertaken to discover the root cause of why boys are showing such contempt and disrespect towards girls, as sexual abuse and harassment against girls seems to be out of control? I mention girls particularly as the majority are girls, although we know that some boys can be affected as well.
In the last few days, I have been speaking to girls I know very well and asked them about this. I was quite shocked at what they told me. It starts at high school, and it goes on through university and beyond. I said, “Well, how often does it happen?” The reply was, “Every time we go out.” That is what girls have to put up with.
I was going to ask the Minister if she was aware that the Welsh Government have recently agreed to undertake a similar review, but my noble friend Lady Wilcox mentioned this. So, will the Minister agree to work with the devolved Administrations to develop a comprehensive programme to ensure that girls and young women can feel safe in education, wherever they live or study?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the Everyone’s Invited platform and the subsequent review by Ofsted reveal that there has been a normalisation—mainly by girls—and acceptance of certain behaviours that are actually unacceptable. We have got a task on our hands to unpick how that is happening, how that behaviour is being exhibited in the first place and how they are then accepting that it is normal or acceptable behaviour, when it is not.
One of the main planks we have introduced is the RSHE curriculum, which will explore issues around consent and will hopefully give young people an understanding of what is and is not a healthy relationship —between adult and child as well as peer on peer— although this may take some time to embed with young people. Other noble Lords have mentioned teacher training. Time is being set inside on an Inset day, because obviously, you need to train the entire workforce as quickly as possible in relation to these cultural issues.
International Women’s Day
Baroness Gale Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]
It is pleasure to follow the Minister who opened the debate, and I am sure that we all associate ourselves with her remarks regarding Sarah Everard. Our thoughts are with her and her family today.
As we mark International Women’s Day, I believe it is crucial that we recognise the contribution of older women and do more to raise awareness of the challenges and issues they face in their daily lives.
The United Nations and the Commonwealth take these matters seriously. The Commonwealth charter commits its members to core principles of mutual respect and inclusiveness and is opposed to all forms of discrimination, including ageism. The United Nations is working towards a convention for older people as a means of strengthening older people’s rights, showing how seriously it regards the matter.
Nearer home, I want to draw attention to the position in Wales, where, thanks to a Welsh Labour Government, we have had a commissioner for older people since 2008. This is a world first. The commissioner, Heléna Herklots, is independent of government and is a strong voice for older people; her voice has been crucial during the pandemic.
Older women make an enormous contribution to our economy as taxpayers, to our communities as volunteers, and to our families by providing much needed unpaid care and childcare, which often goes unheralded. Despite this contribution, many older women continue to live in poor health, in poverty or to experience abuse. In addition to facing discrimination on the basis of their age, many older women continue to face the sexism they have experienced throughout their lives.
Covid has exasperated this state of affairs. Thousands of older women experience abuse: a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, which causes harm or distress. In 2018-19, over 25,000 incidents of suspected abuse or neglect were reported to local authorities in Wales, of which 52% related to people over the age of 65. This data suggests that older people experience higher levels of abuse than other groups.
It is essential that older women at risk of or experiencing abuse can access the support they need to ensure they are safe and protected. However, previous polling undertaken on behalf of the commissioner found that one in five older women would not know where to go to get support if they were being abused.
Lockdown has been a particularly difficult time for older people who experience abuse. The prevalence of abuse has probably increased during this period, as older women have been spending more time confined to their homes and have seen significant changes to their normal routines
I have drawn attention to how older people in Wales benefit from having a commissioner providing a strong, independent voice. Anyone who cares to look can see the advantages of that. Unfortunately, older people in England do not have such a voice. I have asked the Government what plans they have for appointing a commissioner for older people in England. I have been told there are no such plans, and it seems to me that they are not even thinking about it.
I ask the Minister today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, to do all in her power to inform the Government how beneficial a commissioner for older people would be. It would be such a support, especially for older women during this pandemic, and would empower them in the recovery from the impact of Covid-19.
Women in Elected Office
Baroness Gale Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Gale
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of women holding elected office in the United Kingdom.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Department for International Trade (Baroness Berridge) (Con)
My Lords, we have more women MPs than ever before, making up 34% of the other place, and 35% of local councillors are women. But we must ensure that women have an equal voice in the decisions that affect them. The Government cannot mandate who political parties select as candidates, and it is for them to ensure that their selection processes are responsive to known barriers and lead the way in improving women’s representation—especially today, on International Women’s Day.
Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]
Does the Minister agree with me that the barriers which prevent women seeking elected office include abuse and discrimination, as well as elected institutions being seen as unfriendly to women? Will she commit to doing all she can to ensure that the sunset clause of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002, allowing an all-women shortlist, is extended beyond 2030, and that Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 is implemented? This would go some way to ensuring that our elected institutions look like the people they represent.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the Government keep all the uncommenced sections of the Equality Act under review, and in the run up to 2030, I am sure that there will be a review of whether to extend that. We all have a role to play when disagreement between elected representatives goes from disagreement to abuse and discrimination. We all have a role to speak out to defend our colleagues of whatever political persuasion.
International Women’s Day
Baroness Gale Excerpts(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Gale (Lab)
My Peers, I thank the Minister for bringing this debate before us today and congratulate her on her new post as Minister for Women and Equalities. I look forward to working with her in future.
This annual debate allows us to discuss all aspects of life for females, and I am sure that we will hear many interesting speeches. I am looking forward to hearing from all Peers, especially the noble Lord, Lord Ranger, who has chosen to make his maiden speech today.
The theme for International Women’s Day is “Each for Equality”, and the theme of our debate is that the House
“takes note of International Women’s Day and the United Kingdom’s role in advancing equalities for women everywhere.”
That gives us quite wide scope, and poses the question of how each one of us achieves equality. Looking at women in politics, we still have some way to go. Following the general election in December there are now 220 women MPs. That is 34% of all MPs, an all-time high. That compares with this Chamber, where there are 220 women Peers and 587 men. Since 1918, when women could stand for Parliament, only 552 women have been elected, but in the same period more than 5,000 men have been elected. It has taken 102 years to get to this number, and in that time only 46 women have become Cabinet Ministers.
The all-women shortlists legislation that was enacted in 2002 enabled political parties to address the underrepresentation of women in political life. The Labour Party has used it in several general elections, and as a result it has more women MPs than other parties. For the first time, there are also more women than men in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
However, we still need to look at diversity in our elected institutions. Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 requires political parties to report on the diversity of their candidates. That has not yet been enacted. This means that there is no collection of data and no monitoring of party representation at all in terms of disability, ethnicity or gender. Without data there is no way of assessing what the problems are and no way of identifying how political parties can put measures in place to address the problems.
It makes it very difficult to hold parties to account for their attitudes towards diversity. This is a way of ensuring that our elected institutions look like the people they represent, and that is what we should be aiming for. In line with our debate, advancing equalities for women everywhere, will the Minister agree to do all she can to ensure that Section 106 is enacted as soon as possible, because until now the Government—from 2010—have refused to act on this.
Where we have a good number of women elected, such as the Welsh Assembly, we do see a different agenda. For example, much legislation has been passed improving the lives of women and children. The first Children’s Commissioner was appointed in Wales and now we have them in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.
The first Commissioner for Older People in the world was appointed in Wales and there is only one other; in Northern Ireland. The first Future Generations Commissioner was appointed in Wales in 2015, which is working very well. Indeed, we have the Second Reading of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill, promoted by Lord Bird, on Friday. I hope that the Government will be supporting it. Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote for the first time in elections in Wales. This shows that there is a different agenda when there is a good number of women in our elected institutions.
I am pleased to see the Domestic Abuse Bill has started its passage in the House of Commons. It has been a long time coming. The Minister will be aware that, although it has been welcomed by many organisations, they feel that the Bill may be lacking in some areas and there are concerns it does not go far enough. So can the Minister give a guarantee that the Istanbul Convention will be ratified once the Act has been passed and that it fully complies with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention, including explicit recognition of the gendered nature of domestic abuse and its disproportionate impact on women, and ensuring the protection of all women without discrimination on any grounds, including race, religion, nationality, or migrant or refugee status. All this has been promised for some time now.
The voice of women’s organisations in the United Kingdom was lost to a large extent when the coalition Government in 2010 disbanded the Women’s National Commission, although the Government at the time said it would be taken in-house with the Government Equalities Office having the responsibility. However, nothing is now heard about that and the Equalities Office cannot possibly be doing the work that the WNC carried out. Perhaps the Minister could tell the House what is happening in this field. The WNC was an asset to the United Kingdom. It comprised more than 650 women’s organisations and provided different Governments over a period of 40 years with a great link to the women of the United Kingdom. It was the voice of women to government. Unfortunately, that voice has been lost.
Are the Government prepared to look at this again and reconsider the decision of the coalition Government? I will be very happy to have any discussions with the Minister and I can assure her it will be most welcome to the women’s organisations of the United Kingdom.
We know that women have made advances over the years. We certainly have more opportunities than women of past generations and most of us have the freedom to live our life as we choose. As we mark International Women’s Day, I pay tribute to the work of women in the United Kingdom: those who give their time to care for others, such as grandparents who look after their grandchildren, thus allowing their own children to pursue their careers; those who care for sick partners with little financial reward, and whose wonderful work is often barely recognised, certainly by the state; all the women who work for charities, including those who run charity shops, all of whom are volunteers raising money for their charity; women who are involved in their church, doing all sorts of work; and the women we all know in our political parties who make sure that the machine keeps working but who never seek any political reward.
However, I am thinking particularly of two women I know who work in the field of domestic abuse, and I pay tribute to them today. Rachel Williams and Charlotte Kneer have both been victims of domestic abuse over many years, but they have turned their lives around and now work to help other women who suffer from domestic abuse. Rachel campaigns tirelessly and is committed to ending this abuse. She has four successful petitions on Change.org, with a combined half a million signatures. She is now a qualified independent domestic violence adviser, and she also runs an online awareness Facebook page called Don’t Look Back. She has also written a book about her experience. If noble Lords have not read it, it is available in the Lords Library and I recommend it.
Charlotte is now the chief executive of Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid refuge. I have visited it and am in absolute awe of the work that she does, giving women and their children their lives back. She adopts a holistic approach and provides women with the skills they need after suffering years of domestic abuse. Both are strong women and role models, providing support for women going through the trauma of domestic abuse.
Finally, I acknowledge the achievements of the women and girls who went on strike in 1888 at the Bryant & May factory in Bow. The match-girls’ strike is considered a key date in the history of trade unionism, as demonstrated by Henry Snell’s observation in 1936 that
“the matchgirls’ strike had an influence ... which entitles it to be regarded as one of the most important events in the history of labour organisation in any country.”
They were such brave women, leading the way for all women to get involved in the trade union movement and improving the lives of many women who worked at that time, as well as all those who followed.
We have made progress. There is still a long way to go and I trust that legislation that this Government will bring before us will go some way towards achieving equality for women everywhere.