EU Court of Justice Ruling: Religious Signs

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 15th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Statement. The court ruling, however, raises some real concerns about religious freedom in the workplace, including those of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab. Although I think the Minister has been quite clear in her Statement, will she say positively that people can express their faith at the workplace, and in a professional manner, as they choose? Can she confirm that the Government believe that preventing women wearing the hijab, as exampled in this case, is simply and unconditionally wrong?

What advice and guidance will the Government give to employers on the court ruling, and will it reinforce the rights of employees in the UK to express their religious freedoms? Finally, will the Minister say what direct communication the Government have had with G4S, the employer in this case? G4S holds a number of government contracts. I hope that she can reinforce with G4S its employees’ rights to wear clothing necessary for their religious practices.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

As I said in my Statement, and will restate now, we will work with the ECHR to update guidance for employers for dealing with religion or belief in the workplace. As I also said before, and am happy to repeat, indirect discrimination can be lawful or unlawful. It is unlawful where it is neither legitimate nor proportionate. When an employer seeks to justify why it has banned religious symbols or certain items of clothing, it has to point out the legitimacy and proportionality of why it has done so. If that makes it far more difficult for one group of people to be employed, the discriminatory effect of their actions can be called into question.

Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill

Baroness Gale Excerpts

2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Friday 10th March 2017 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Gale]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to bring this important Private Member’s Bill to your Lordships’ House. It has been guided with conviction and passion through the other place by its sponsor, Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP. Its purpose is to unblock the log-jam which has thus far delayed ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, which is better known as the Istanbul convention. It also puts on a statutory footing important mechanisms to hold the Government to account in their progress towards ratification.

The UK signed the Istanbul convention in June 2012, having played an important role in its negotiation and drafting. However, despite the important progress made by the present and previous Governments—including a range of new legislation that prepares the UK for compliance with the treaty, and repeated verbal commitments to the principle of ratification—the process has stalled and, nearly five years on, the treaty remains unratified.

The Istanbul convention is unique, ground-breaking international legislation which enshrines the basic human right of women and girls to live free from violence in both the public and private spheres. Preventing violence against women and domestic violence can save lives and reduce human suffering. The convention focuses on three important aims: preventing violence against women, protecting victims and survivors of abuse, and prosecuting perpetrators. It brings greater coherence, consistency and strategic direction to the important work already undertaken by organisations, communities and governments that aims to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against women and promote substantive equality between women and men. It has been hailed as the best piece of international policy and practice for eliminating violence against women that exists anywhere. It is the first legislation that sets minimum standards for government responses to victims and survivors of gender-based violence. The Istanbul convention is broad in scope, and the aims are very specific. Covering criminal, civil and migration law, it sets minimum standards for the protection of survivors and for access to services.

Governments who ratify the convention are required to work to prevent violence and bring about an attitudinal change. It explicitly covers many manifestations of gender- based violence, including physical and psychological abuse, stalking, sexual violence including rape, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and so-called honour crimes. The Istanbul convention is unique in that it understands that states cannot be responsible for preventing violence against women and domestic violence on their own, and calls on countries to work together to tackle cross-border issues. It calls on all members of society to help reach the ultimate goal of a world free from all forms of violence against women and domestic violence. It recognises that women are disproportionately affected by sexual and domestic violence because of underlying gender inequalities, which are also compounded by abuse. The convention also places an emphasis on challenging the misogynistic attitudes that perpetuate gender inequality as a means of preventing violence and abuse.

Preventive measures are not the only important issue. Protecting victims and survivors and providing them with appropriate support are vital. States that ratify the Istanbul convention are required to ensure that accessible shelters exist in sufficient numbers and in adequate geographical distribution. Ratifying the Istanbul convention would put a duty on the Government to ensure that women’s refuges exist and provide important support at a time when women need it most. It also puts on a statutory footing the provision of rape crisis centres, 24-hour advice lines and access to useful information. The Council of Europe says:

“It should be borne in mind that it is not enough to set up protection structures and support services for victims. It is equally important to make sure victims are informed of their rights and know where and how to get help”.


It is an important consideration that anyone can be a victim of sexual violence or domestic abuse, regardless of economic background, age, ethnicity, religion or gender. However, we know that certain characteristics increase the risks: for example, poorer women and disabled women are at a greater risk of domestic abuse, while women from some ethnic minorities or cultural backgrounds are at greater risk of certain forms of gender-based violence.

One question that is asked frequently is, “What about the men?”. I would like to deal with this, because it was a point of contention in the other place. The convention itself explicitly addresses this issue in Article 4, where it makes it clear that its provisions apply to all persons, regardless of gender, and a whole range of other protected characteristics. However, the convention primarily focuses on women, and it is important that it does, because sexual violence and domestic abuse affect women to a hugely disproportionate extent, both in terms of prevalence and severity. In England and Wales in 2015, over 92% of the prosecutions brought for domestic abuse involved a male perpetrator and a female victim. Two women a week die at the hands of a partner or former partner. This does not mean that crimes committed by women against men, or by men against men, are less serious—they are serious—but to ignore the gendered dynamic of such types of crime would be wrong. One woman in four in the UK will experience sexual or domestic violence in her lifetime. The sheer scale of the problem demands that we take it more seriously.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights, in its sixth report of the 2014-15 Session, entitled Violence Against Women and Girls, recommended that the UK Government ratify the Istanbul convention. It raised concerns at the time that the inter-ministerial group had insufficient powers, with witnesses to the committee criticising the group for not taking a holistic approach towards ending violence against women and girls because of the lack of representation from immigration officials. Asylum Aid recommended at the time that the Immigration Minister and UK Visas and Immigration should have representation on the group to ensure that the issues arising are dealt with effectively. I would appreciate it if the Minister said something on this today—or perhaps she could write to me later—as I would like to see these issues addressed.

On 24 November last year, I asked the Minister in your Lordships’ House why the Government had not yet ratified the Istanbul convention and when they intended to do so. The Minister said that the Government were committed to ratifying, but that in order to do so they would need to legislate to take extra-terrestrial jurisdiction over a wide range of offences.

[Noble Lords]

Extraterritorial.

[Baroness Gale]

Did I get that wrong? I thank noble Lords for correcting me, because that would have taken the jurisdiction a lot wider than I intended. As a result of that, I shall refer to extraterritorial jurisdiction as “ETJ” from now on; I think that will be a lot easier.

Perpetrators who are UK nationals or residents can evade prosecution by committing crimes as abhorrent as rape while abroad, and that should stop. There is precedent on ETJ: the Government already exercise such powers for similar offences committed against children overseas. They exercise ETJ in a range of other areas—for example, drugs offences, financial crime, terrorism and other forms of organised crime.

I was pleased to see that the Prime Minister has committed herself to overseeing a new Bill on domestic violence. I hope that such legislation will include the changes necessary to bring the UK into line with Article 44 of the Istanbul convention—that is, those relating to ETJ. Could the Minister outline the intention behind this new legislation and whether it will allow the Government to take ETJ over the necessary offences, ensuring that the UK is compliant with the convention and thereby paving the way for ratification?

There is a real need for action in the efforts to end violence against women. Two women are killed by their partners or former partners every week in England and Wales alone. In the past year, 1.2 million women were victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales. In the same timeframe, across the UK, 87,500 rapes and more than 400,000 sexual assaults were reported to police. It is well known that most cases of sexual assault and rape go unreported, so we must not underestimate the scale of the impact on women and children in our communities. There is clearly a need for action.

Ms Rashida Manjoo, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, has said:

“Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation we face globally, whether in times of peace, conflict or post-conflict transition”.


It is so normalised that we hardly even notice how much we put up with. I was moved by some of the contributions from Members in the other place who spoke courageously of their own experiences. It affects us all. But violence against women is not natural and it is not inevitable.

I turn to the specifics of the Bill. Made up of three clauses, it requires the Secretary of State to report to both Houses on the steps being taken to enable the UK to ratify the convention. It requires the Government to come forward with a timetable by which they will ratify the convention. I was pleased with my meeting with the Minister this week, for which I thank her, to discuss the Bill in the run-up to this debate, and I welcome the Government’s support for the Bill.

Clause 1 requires that the Secretary of State lay a report in both Houses of Parliament setting out the steps necessary to ratify. This includes passing legislation through not only both Houses but the devolved Administrations of Scotland and Northern Ireland. I know the Government are committed to working with the existing devolved Administrations, and I welcome that commitment.

Clause 2 requires the Government to make an annual report to both Houses on the progress toward ratification no later than by 1 November in each year leading up to ratification. That report comes with a Government commitment to make an Oral Statement to Parliament, so that MPs and noble Lords can hold the Government to account on progress towards ratification. The convention itself commits the Government to thorough reporting requirements through annual reports to the Council of Europe’s expert group, GREVIO. It is important that parliamentarians have opportunities to scrutinise this report.

In Committee in the Commons, the Government committed to making an Oral Statement on their compliance with the convention post-ratification. I would be grateful if the Minister made a similar commitment so that these issues can be debated in your Lordships’ House, rather than a report merely being placed in our Library.

The Bill is short and simple but it has proved to be important, unlocking the logjam in Government departments. I hope it will lead to ratification at the earliest possible opportunity. While we in this place have the privilege to shape and develop legislation, we need to take cognisance of our responsibilities too. I have been heartened by the powerful civil society movement of women and men across the UK who have campaigned for the UK to ratify the convention.

The breadth of support from organisations and activists shows the strength of feeling on this issue. The IC Change campaign is one of the most inspiring campaigns. Run by volunteers, it helped to mobilise thousands of people the length and breadth of the country to engage with MPs in order to get the Bill through the other place. The women who led that campaign should be very proud. It is often the norm for civil society to be out in front on issues such as this. Women activists have campaigned, and Parliament has to try to keep up.

In the other place, the Bill was expertly stewarded by Dr Eilidh Whiteford, in the face of some adversity, but with overwhelming cross-party support, including from the government and opposition Front Benches. This Bill is important. It gives us the opportunity of oversight towards ratification, and a timetable—hopefully short—within which that can be achieved. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Gale]

My Lords, I thank all noble Members of the House who have taken part. I especially thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, for his contribution and all the wonderful work he has done in this field. I also thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans for speaking about his experiences of listening to women who have suffered domestic violence and for bringing that to the House. I mention the two male Peers who spoke because we need women and men to take part—this issue is not just for women, as other noble Lords have pointed out.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, for her support and for talking about her experience in this field. I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, for her work on the Joint Committee on Human Rights and for speaking about how that committee wants the Istanbul convention to be ratified. I was interested in the intervention by my noble friend Lady Farrington, who said that some people think that such behaviour does not happen in their area. We know that it happens everywhere, in every county in England, Wales and Scotland—and in the whole world, actually. No country is free from it, which is why it is really important to take action.

I thank my noble friend Lady Sherlock for the Opposition’s support. There is support for the Bill right across the House—I thank the Minister for her support, too—and I am sure that working together with other Members, we will get it through. I look forward to working with the Minister and I am sure that in getting the Bill through your Lordships’ House, she will keep my feet firmly on the ground and make sure that it does not end up in outer space.

I know we will get compliance because the Government seem determined to do that. I thank everyone again, including the Minister for her co-operation, and I ask the House to give the Bill a Second Reading.

Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

International Women’s Day

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Thursday 9th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords—and Ladies—first I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Shields, for bringing this really important debate to mark International Women’s Day. We have had, as usual, a great debate over a wide range of subjects relating to women and girls from all around the world, and I thank all noble Baronesses, and all noble Lords, for their contributions.

The global theme for International Women’s Day is “Be Bold for Change”, as many of us today have mentioned. It is about encouraging ground-breaking action to drive the greatest change for women. The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”. It aims at addressing women’s economic empowerment in the context of globalisation and the ongoing technological revolution.

One of the key challenges for women is their low representation in leadership positions. The World Economic Forum produces an annual gender gap index, which ranks countries by the extent to which women and men have equal opportunities. It includes economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. On this index, the UK is number 20; last year, we were number 18. On the IPU ranking, based on the percentage of women in the lower, elected House of Parliament, the UK is placed 47th; Rwanda is ranked first, with 61.3% women. Can the Minister explain why the UK has dropped down to 20th place? What measures would she suggest to improve our ranking? How we can move further up the IPU rankings?

Where there is good representation of women in elected legislatures, it is usually because special measures have been put in place, such as happened in the devolved institutions. In Wales, in the first elections in 1999, the Labour Party had special measures which meant that a good number of women were elected to good seats, and that has continued. We now have 41.7% of Members of the Welsh Assembly being women. In Scotland, 34.9% of the Members are women.

It is 99 years since women were first allowed to become Members of Parliament. In that time, only 456 women have been elected as MPs, compared with 4,738 men. That makes 8.8% women and 91.2% men. In the House of Commons today, there are 195 women, which is 30%, and 454 men, which is 70%. We are improving, but it is all very slow.

The Commons Women and Equalities Committee report published on 10 January recommends that the Government legislate for a minimum of 45% of candidates from all political parties to be women. If that target is not reached, sanctions should be imposed. Will the Minister do all she can to ensure that happens? It should be enacted if the number and proportion of women MPs fail to increase significantly in the next general election.

Next year, we will mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act that gave women the right to become MPs. I am aware there are already plans in Parliament to mark the occasion. Does the Minister agree that, in the week of International Women’s Day next year, we should have more than just our annual debate? Will the Minister agree to have discussions with me and others to see whether we can agree on a good programme of events to mark this occasion in your Lordships’ House, without of course impinging on what is already being planned? I think we could have a great time next year, marking this great occasion. I have to say that 100 years is a long time to wait for women’s equality. We owe it to future generations of women to take positive action now.

Another thing I want to talk about is gender-based violence. The UN recognises this as direct discrimination against women, perpetrated against them because they are women. Domestic abuse, as a form of violence against women and girls, is internationally recognised as a serious violation of the human rights of women and girls. Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls is essential for the realisation of fundamental rights, equality and non-discrimination. The British Crime Survey for England and Wales reported that there were over 100,000 prosecutions for domestic abuse in 2015-16, the highest level ever recorded. Where gender was recorded, 92.1% of defendants were male, and 7.9% of defendants were female.

Specialist support services for women, such as refuges, are a lifeline for women and girls escaping domestic violence, but women’s domestic violence services are in crisis. Women’s services have seen their funding shrink rapidly since 2010, and one-third of local authority funding to domestic and sexual violence services was already cut by 2012 and even more since. Can the Minister explain why funding is being cut from these vital services which do so much to help and support women and children at a time when they need it most?

I look forward to the Minister’s response, but before I sit down I would like to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Vere, on her recent marriage. I am sure that the whole House will join in giving her our best wishes. We wish her and her husband a happy and long life together.

Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2017 Grand Committee

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, these regulations which are being introduced under powers in Section 153 of the Equality Act 2010 replace and amend the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011. Under this power, Ministers can impose specific duties on public authorities to secure the better performance of the public sector equality duty. These regulations replicate the measures from the previous specific duties regulations, namely that public bodies must publish information every year to demonstrate their compliance with the equality duty and set equality objectives every four years.

Tackling the gender pay gap is an absolute priority for this Government. That is why we have used these powers to include new duties for the relevant public authorities, if they have 250 or more employees, to report on their gender pay differences. We have already delivered on our manifesto commitment to introduce mandatory gender pay gap reporting for large employers in the private and voluntary sectors. The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 were approved by both Houses last month and signed by the Secretary of State on 6 February.

Of course, it is only right that public bodies, including government departments, are subject to the same reporting requirements. That is why we announced in October 2015 that we would be extending the manifesto commitment to the public sector. We want government to be a trail-blazer and lead by example. These regulations apply to specified public authorities in England, non-devolved organisations and certain cross-border authorities. Scottish and Welsh public bodies are subject to separate specific duties regulations. The devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales have been consulted on the proposed changes. Both sets of regulations will require the same gender pay gap calculations and use the same methodology for calculating the data.

Public authorities that are subject to these regulations will need to publish the mean and median differences between the average hourly rate of pay for male and female employees. They will need to publish the mean and median differences between the average bonuses paid to male and female employees. They will also need to report on the proportions of men and women who receive bonuses, and the proportions in each quartile of their pay distribution.

All specified public bodies will need to publish their gender pay gap data on a website that is accessible to members of the public. Organisations will also need to upload data to a government-sponsored website, which will allow us to establish a database of compliant employers and closely monitor compliance. We have aligned the reporting timetables and obligations as closely as possible for employers in different sectors to achieve consistency and comparable sets of data. The two sets of regulations will provide unprecedented transparency on gender pay differences in all sectors and create the environment needed to drive change. I beg to move.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, first, I thank the Minister for bringing these regulations before us tonight. We waited seven years for the Government to come forward, but I am very pleased that they have finally introduced mandatory pay audits for large companies in the private and voluntary sectors. It is a shame that it has taken this Government so long to bring into force the measures created by the last Labour Government, but at least now we are taking some steps forward, which is very good. I commend the Government for extending the mandatory pay gap reporting duties to public sector employers, as they promised to do in October 2015. This again is another step forward towards progress.

The regulations discussed today, under Section 153 of the Equality Act, mirror almost exactly the regulations under Section 78, although I have concerns that some of the new duties could have gone further. As with the duties on private and voluntary sector organisations, they apply only to public authorities with 250 employees or more. The maintenance of such a high employee threshold for application of these duties in the public sector was raised as a concern by a significant number of organisations and individuals responding to the Government’s consultation, but the Government have chosen not to set a lower threshold for public bodies.

It is understandable that the Government would want to create comparable data between the public sector and private and voluntary sectors but, clearly, limiting the application to public sector bodies with more than 250 employees will severely limit the number of public authorities caught under this regulation. The Government claim that of course a public authority of any size could choose to adopt mandatory reporting, but to what extent will a voluntary expectation create practice in reality? What communication does the Minister intend to have with all public bodies, regardless of their number of employees, to encourage them to publish their gender pay gap information? Have any indicated to her that they will take this voluntary action? In the consultation response, the Government promised to keep under review setting a lower employee threshold, but failed to give an assurance on a timescale. When will this be reviewed? What evidence will she require to persuade her that the figure of 250 employees is too high a threshold?

Istanbul Convention

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have not yet ratified the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, and when they intend to do so.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are absolutely committed to tackling violence against women and girls, and to ratifying the Istanbul convention. In most respects, measures already in place to protect women and girls from violence comply with or go further than what the convention requires. Before the convention is ratified, we need to take extraterritorial jurisdiction over a range of offences. We will seek to legislate when the approach to implementing ETJ is agreed and parliamentary time allows.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but I feel quite disappointed with it, bearing in mind that each year more than 2 million people in England and Wales, the majority being women, suffer some form of domestic violence. Although we have a raft of laws to protect people from domestic violence, this would be an additional safety net that means all our citizens could lead a life free from violence. I hope the Minister can go back and have another look at this. I am sure parliamentary time can be made available if the will is there. I hope the Minister will agree and urge whichever ministry is responsible for this to get a move on.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I hope I can give the noble Baroness some comfort on some of the offences for which we already exercise our extraterritorial jurisdiction: murder, FGM, forced marriage and offences against children. In addition, we have pledged to increase funding to £80 million for violence against women and girls between now and 2020.

Violence Against Women

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering appointing a National Adviser for Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, similar to the appointment made by the National Assembly for Wales in 2015.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims remain key priorities for this Government. We welcome all initiatives to tackle violence against women and girls.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

I thank the Minister very much for his response, although I am a little disappointed in what he said. Does he agree that anything that can be done to reduce the high number of women suffering from domestic abuse—1.4 million in 2014—must be done? Will he agree to meet the Minister in Wales to discuss the ground-breaking law in Wales so that women in England can benefit in the same way as women in Wales do now from that new law, which would add to all our existing law?

[Lord Bates]

Yes. In fact, I probably recommended the meeting and I am very happy to sit in on it. We have appointed, for the first time, a Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation, Karen Bradley, in the Home Office. She takes a lead in this area, and I am sure that discussions between those Ministers will be very important. It is very important that we all work together. The key element of the Act passed by the Welsh Assembly was to provide for a strategy. We have that in England and Wales in the cross-government strategy, but we can all learn from each other. It is a very important area and we need to do more.

Advertising of Prostitution (Prohibition) Bill [HL]

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Friday 23rd October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord McColl, for introducing this important Bill, which I fully support. I am very pleased that he has brought it to the House today. I believe that there is a very strong case for this Bill on three counts: first, it corrects the obvious anomaly in our law that it is currently illegal to organise or profit from prostitution by running a brothel or allowing premises to be used for prostitution and it is also illegal to cause, incite or control prostitution for gain, but it is perfectly legal to advertise—so there is an advert, but if you respond to the advert, you are committing a crime.

Secondly, prostitution has, as we have already heard, far-reaching negative effects on the majority of those involved in selling their bodies and on society as a whole. The noble Lord, Lord McColl, has provided a detailed overview of the evidence that explains why the Bill is necessary. I shall highlight the overwhelmingly exploitative nature of prostitution by citing three stories from south Wales that were told this year in a powerful documentary called, “Selling Sex to Survive”. The programme looked at prostitution in Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. It featured Emily. She once had a happy home, but life trauma led to a breakdown, which resulted in her turning to drugs and prostitution. She said, “Working on the streets, there’s lots of money, lots of drugs, lots of fun, lots of boys, but it’s a horrible, horrible, life”. Another woman said, “You get customers that used to pay £30 to £40 but now it’s £10 all in”. She wants to escape prostitution. Then there was brothel worker, Sorina, who earns enough money in Wales to support her family in Romania—but it comes at a big human dignity cost. She said, “In here, in this job you must be a very cold woman, without thinking, without heart, without anything”. Imagine basing your life on that: no emotion and no involvement. These stories show how awful, in most cases, it is for women in prostitution.

Thirdly, the Bill is important because it helps us fulfil our international obligations to address the demand for paid sex in relation to trafficking and prostitution generally. As the noble Lord, Lord McColl, noted, we have international obligations to reduce the demand for human trafficking under Article 18 of the EU directive and Article 6 of the Council of Europe convention on this subject.

Given both our international obligations to address demand and the fact that, according to the national referral mechanism, trafficking for sexual exploitation is the most common experience for victims of trafficking in England and Wales, it seems rather strange that the Modern Slavery Act has nothing to say about the demand for paid sex, even though it addresses the demand for other forms of trafficking through its supply chain provisions. So this Bill will help us rise to the challenge and demonstrate that we are taking our international responsibilities seriously. It will help reduce demand for paid sex and the suffering associated with prostitution.

It will also involve our society sending a clear message through its laws that it does not want to facilitate the celebration of what is an overwhelmingly exploitative practice through advertising. Enforcement will require the provision of some resources but, given the overwhelming evidence of the exploitative nature of prostitution, taking this step is necessary to challenge the exploitation of, in the main, women. Our international and moral obligations mean that we must take action.

I end with a quote from the organisation Against Violence and Abuse, which stated:

“Over 50% of women involved in prostitution in the United Kingdom have been sexually assaulted, and at least 75% have been physically assaulted at the hands of pimps and punters. Women in street prostitution are 18 times more likely to be murdered than the general population. These terrifying statistics demonstrate the need for more comprehensive legislation preventing the exploitation of women through prostitution. It is, therefore, my opinion that the very least this government should be doing is explicitly prohibiting the advertising of prostitution, as Lord McColl’s Bill so nobly argues”.

I am sure that the Minister is listening closely, as he always does, to what the House is saying today, and I hope that he will be in a position to support the Bill.

Women: Domestic Violence

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are undertaking to ensure that women who have suffered domestic violence and abuse have access to the legal and emotional support they may require.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, tackling domestic violence and abuse is a core priority for this Government. We have allocated £7.5 million this year to fund local services which provide both legal and emotional support. Our ambition is to achieve the best possible outcomes for victims. We will continue to work with courts, police and crime commissioners, local government and the health service to make effective decisions to meet those needs.

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for his response. However, does he agree with me that the two-year rule on providing evidence for victims of domestic violence is not working well enough? Does he also agree that, in line with two recent reports from the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Justice Select Committee, as well as the Law Society and women’s groups, Regulation 33 of the LASPO Act 2012 should be amended to ensure that once legal aid has been granted on evidence of domestic violence, the certification should remain in force until the completion of the case, which does not always happen now, and that there should be discretion regarding the two-year rule? Bearing that in mind, will the Minister look at Regulation 33 with a view to amending and improving it?

[Lord Bates]

First, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for constantly focusing on this issue and holding the Government to account on it. We can recognise that some progress has been made on this with the introduction of the law. Her point about the regulation is well made, and we will look at it. That matter will be under review—we are collecting the data from all the forces at present—and a further report will be issued by the national oversight group, which is chaired by the Home Secretary. I will ensure that that point is looked at and addressed.