Violence against Women and Girls
Andrew Cooper Excerpts(1 day, 22 hours ago)
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Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I commend the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing a debate on this extremely important subject, on which she speaks with real authority. This is a pervasive problem that we cannot afford to ignore. It is our responsibility to tackle it head on. We must use every lever available to target the perpetrators and address the root causes of this heinous abuse and violence.
That requires a comprehensive approach that does not centre on punishment alone. We must implement a holistic response that delivers justice and protection for survivors, effective prevention, and education that challenges the harmful social attitudes, inequality and discrimination that underpin the abuse that women and girls face. That is essential if we are to achieve our landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade and break the cycle of violence.
In the time I have, I would like to focus on stalking. We must recognise that stalking is a form of violence that can have devastating effects on victims, both physically and emotionally, and has not been treated with the seriousness that it deserves in recent years. It is imperative that we elevate our response to stalking, ensuring that victims feel supported and protected, and that appropriate interventions are provided to perpetrators.
I am proud that Winsford in my constituency is home to the Cheshire harm reduction unit, which enables police, health professionals and the Probation Service to work collaboratively, within an integrated multi-agency unit, to manage the risks associated with stalking and to support victims. I visited the HRU last week with my hon. Friend the Minister. We saw at first hand the nationally leading specialist work undertaken by the unit to support victims of stalking and bring offenders to justice, as well as the preventive measures it takes to try to reduce offending in perpetrators.
The HRU epitomises the best-practice response to stalking. I believe it is vital that its work is replicated and rolled out to every police force area across the country, and is extended to include the Prison Service, so that the work of changing behaviour continues before offenders are released.