Modern Slavery (Victim Support) Bill

Debate between Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Baroness Williams of Trafford

Monday 7th October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I pay tribute to the ministry the right reverend Prelate describes, because I know that both the Church and the voluntary sector do a fantastic job in this area. Children can receive support through the independent child trafficking guardians that have now been rolled out in a third of local authorities in England and Wales—they are very welcome—and follow-on support, through the victim care contract, that victims can expect to receive after the trauma of their experience.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

I am sure the Minister will agree that modern slavery cannot be confined to these shores; it is a global horror story. I welcome her statement, but did she by chance catch sight of the particularly painful programme that BBC Arabic put forward on modern slavery of children under nine under sharia law in Iraq? Is she aware that there have been cases of this kind—I know of them myself—here in the United Kingdom? May we spread our work and share it with other nations in the same way that the right reverend Prelate has offered?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I did see that programme, and it was very disturbing: children as young as eight and nine being married for an hour, effectively so that they could be abused. In this country we would call it child abuse, and of course those girls suffer even worse because it damages the rest of their lives.

Facial Recognition Technology

Debate between Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Baroness Williams of Trafford

Wednesday 2nd October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The Government do not intend to place a moratorium on the technology’s use, but the noble Lord is right that such use needs to be carefully governed and be in line with the law and human rights, and with a clear oversight framework. Use of the technology in the private sector—the noble Lord might have alluded to this—is currently being looked at by the ICO.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

Will the Minister consider the utter incompetence of the private and public companies which create facial recognition technology? You have these machines and you pay a vast sum of money for them, but when you put your face on them, they cannot recognise you for anything. Is it not better to press for the improvement of the system rather than trying to clamp down on something that is in no way ready to be used properly yet?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I hate to differ on this with my noble friend, but e-gate technology is in fact superb at matching facial recognition to passports—in some cases, better than humans. However, the human eye in these things is of course not to be dismissed and it can detect all sorts of other things in terms of e-gates.

Terrorism: Perpetrator Creed

Debate between Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Baroness Williams of Trafford

Wednesday 25th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

As always, the noble Lord makes a very good point. It is the responsibility of leaders in our society to lead by example, and some clerical teachings somewhat stray from that at times. As I said, the free press is something that we hold precious, but we all have a responsibility in our own way, whether as the leader of a church, a Sikh gurdwara or a mosque, to promote cohesive messages, not divisive ones.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

Does the Minister consider that the results of forced migration from major religious persecution in the Middle East in particular might give rise to greater participation by the UK’s judicial services in helping justice on the ground, which is so badly needed?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

Justice on the ground is badly needed, my noble friend is absolutely right. I can only concur with her views in terms of some of the migratory effects and the change in our society.

Istanbul Convention

Debate between Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Baroness Williams of Trafford

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The Police and Crime Act increases the sentences for stalking thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, who is not in the Chamber and who brought that matter to the attention of the House. I agree with what the noble Lord said about the report. It was certainly brought to my attention the other day in terms of training the police. We are looking into that.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

Given the enormity of the wave of sexual violence against girls and women as well as men worldwide, will Her Majesty’s Government, given their track record of domestic violence legislation coming forward, ensure that countries which have signed and ratified the Istanbul convention make an effort to implement it?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, it is not for this country to dictate to other countries what they do and do not do. However, I would have thought that in ratifying the convention, those countries had shown good commitment in this area.