Oral Answers to Questions

Alexander Stafford Excerpts

Monday 28th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Holly Mumby-Croft (Scunthorpe) (Con)]

4. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s tackling violence against women and girls strategy.

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

5. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s tackling violence against women and girls strategy.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Priti Patel)]

As part of the violence against women and girls strategy launched last July, we are bringing forward legislation against stalking, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and wider domestic abuse. The strategy is overseen by the VAWG inter-ministerial group, which I chair.

[Priti Patel]

I thank my hon. Friend for her comment and for the work that the police and crime commissioner and her local police force are undertaking. The You Are Not Alone campaign was launched during the pandemic. I recommend it to anyone who is a victim of any form of domestic abuse or violence. It is a successful campaign, and I pay tribute to police and crime commissioners and to our police officers across the country, who have been supporting it and making sure that they provide support to victims of abuse.

[Alexander Stafford]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the shadow policing Minister, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones), has said:

“Harsher sentences don’t act as a deterrent.”

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that that is wrong, that harsher sentences actually do work, and that we are prepared to put domestic abusers and violent and sexual offenders behind bars for longer to make our streets, especially in Rother Valley, safer for women and girls?

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is right that we change our laws, have tougher sentences and make sure that perpetrators absolutely feel the full force of the law. He is right to make that case. The Government are also undertaking wider work on perpetrator behaviour and education campaigns across all Departments.