Tackling Stalking
Jess Brown-Fuller Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Jess Phillips
From speaking to many victims, I know that stalking causes a lack of peace of mind. Other forms of violence against women and girls are all equally bad, but there is something deeply psychological about being stalked and feeling as if you have to change your behaviour and go to different places. The right to know who a stalker is, first and foremost, is about being able to rule out people a victim knows. Most women in our country know that they are more likely to be abused by somebody they know, so they would be second-guessing all the time and being driven further mad by the anonymity of that stalker. Even without any justice outcome, therefore, empowering those women and giving them back power and control over the situation is a gift of something that has been taken from them.
Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)
I thank the Minister for bringing the statement to the House today. I am sure she will join me in thanking a local charity, My Sisters’ House, which supports women in Chichester and Bognor specifically with relationship breakdown stalking, among other things. As its staff said to me when I spoke to them, anything that puts the rights of victims above the rights of abusers is a positive step in the right direction.
The Minister cites the great example of Cheshire constabulary, which is setting a leading standard in its approach to the protection and welfare of victims. She also recognised that we need to see all forces taking that sort of action. However, with each police force acting independently and priorities being set by police and crime commissioners, how will she ensure that victims do not experience a postcode lottery in the support they receive?
Jess Phillips
The hon. Lady points out something very pertinent. I often like dealing with Scotland because there is one police force. I am not suggesting that for England, and nor are the Government, just to be clear—I worry that civil servants might be writing down some of the things I say.
The hon. Lady makes a very good point. Having really good police forces and really good sexual violence responses in Avon and Somerset is no good to the people of Birmingham, is it? It cannot carry on in that way. One thing that has to be done, as part of the Government’s mission to end violence against women and girls and halve it within a decade, is to look at how we deal with police standards and monitor exactly what police forces are doing. It feels a little bit like the centre has taken its eye off the ball on that in the past number of years. We will not solve the problem if we start having a great service in urban areas but people are still left wanting in Chichester and other places.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jess Brown-Fuller Excerpts(1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Yvette Cooper
The hon. Member is right that sometimes it is a small minority who are making life a total nightmare for everyone else. The current antisocial behaviour injunctions just are not strong enough, because very often they do not come with a power of arrest. That is why we are introducing respect orders, which mean that repeat perpetrators can be banned from town centres. They will have a power of arrest so that swift action can be taken if they are breached.
Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)
Antisocial behaviour and crime on our high streets are best tackled with a visible police presence, but police officers in my constituency are spending a four-hour round trip taking those they are arresting to Worthing custody centre when we have a perfectly fit-for-purpose custody centre in Chichester. Does the Home Secretary agree that opening Chichester custody centre would reduce the time that police officers spend sitting in traffic and get them back on our streets?
Yvette Cooper
The hon. Member makes an important point: there are often additional challenges for rural areas or areas where neighbourhood police may have to travel, and it is important that we maintain and increase neighbourhood policing right across the board in all areas. She will know that many of the issues around the location of centres are operational decisions for police forces, but I will pass the issue she has raised on to her police and crime commissioner.