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

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

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

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I welcome today’s Second Reading and congratulate Dr Whiteford and her colleagues in the other place, and the noble Baroness, Lady Gale, for their persistence in getting us to this point. This pernicious abuse of women’s rights and human rights continues to plague our society. It is almost regarded as normalised behaviour in many households. Needless to say, it transcends all communities; shockingly, many women seem not to know still that it is against the law.

An internationally recognised provision would lend significant armoury to the many women human rights defenders, as well as instructing in no uncertain terms still largely male-led institutions that eradication of violence against women is as important a priority as providing education, health and housing. They would not be able to hide behind austerity measures and make women’s refuges and other services their first collateral.

We should take pride in the UK in having secured some of the best policies and practices on domestic violence, including the introduction of new domestic abuse offences, protection orders and criminalising forced marriage—with which I do not agree, but it appears to be doing its job. Then there are the more vigorous laws on female genital mutilation. But we need to go further in providing absolute protection to those facing violence and seek to eliminate violence against women.

We have tolerated consecutive generations of violence plaguing women’s lives, with two women facing death each week. There are 1.2 million women victims, and more than 87,000 rapes are reported on top of 400,000 sexual assaults. God alone knows how many women are still not able to report these incidents. In addition, 11,900 children were raped last year. Twenty-nine per cent of all those statistics are from the BME communities. So despite all the progress of women’s emancipation, our daughters and granddaughters are still facing an insurmountable level of barbaric violence in our society, and we have to do everything we can to ensure that it does not continue.

The UK’s role in shaping the Istanbul convention was significant, so I do not understand how five years have since passed and we have not chosen to ratify it. I am glad to have arrived at this point, whereby government is prepared to work towards compliance. Ratification would indicate a powerful step towards empowerment of women and is certain to afford greater protection of women and girls suffering violence, as well as pushing for a more comprehensive response to addressing violence and giving victims and survivors rightful access to all the necessary specialist services. Ratifying the convention adds another layer of protection, enables local and international agencies to respond more comprehensively and offers parliamentarians a further instrument of accountability. Ratification would assist in harmonisation of laws and assist government and state agencies to respond within a comprehensive framework and set of policies which not only provide enhanced protection but also seek to empower women. Why would we not do it without any hesitation?

On the extraterritorial requirement, I was involved in the dowry inquiry led by Mr Virendra Sharma in the other place last year. A huge number of British citizens complained either that their marriages were not legally recognised in this country and that when they faced violence they had no recourse to law, or that the laws under which they were married in one country were not recognised in this country. That level of harmonisation would, I hope, be an integral part of this.

We have laws and are continuously improving on their implementation. The Istanbul convention can be another layer of safety. We are a signatory, and now need to show that we are serious about eradication of violence by ratifying it. I believe that, by ratification, we would demonstrate our total commitment to all men and women that violence in all its forms is not tolerable in our society today. Ratification embodies a cohesive and integrated approach, not only protecting women with laws but mandating institutions to provide the necessary services, so that women and girls can live free of fear of violence.

Finally, I am confident our ambition is safe in the hands of our current Prime Minister, and the Minister here, who has done much to advance the previous progresses made on this issue. But can the Minister say what the implication of the Brexit negotiation will be on the reporting requirement or signing up to the ratification?