Baroness Burt of Solihull
Main Page: Baroness Burt of Solihull (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Burt of Solihull's debates with the Department for Transport
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Lynne Featherstone
Mainly because they are innocent. The Government start from the principle that someone who is arrested for, or charged with, a criminal offence but not subsequently convicted is innocent. Unlike the last Government, we will not hold the DNA of 1 million innocent people indefinitely. While they were busy filling the database with the DNA of innocent people, they absolutely failed to collect the DNA of the guilty, who were liable and had been convicted, and who might very well offend again.
Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)
My hon. Friend has written that nine out of 10 rapes go unreported, and that 38% of serious sexual assault victims tell no one about their experience. Reported rape is just the tip of the iceberg. I know that we are putting £10.5 million into rape centres, but what can we do to encourage victims to walk through their doors in the first place?