Angiolini Inquiry

Debate between Jess Phillips and Sarah Dyke

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I only wish that writing things on to the statute book changed the culture—it has been illegal to rape someone for quite some time, and it has been illegal to murder for even longer. I only wish that simply putting things on to the statute book made a difference. I would say to my hon. Friend’s police force that I always encourage good communications, including with the women involved. Policing is based on consent, and that is something we hold dear in our country. I implore the police to have discussions with my hon. Friend and the local community—about the community’s concerns and about what the police are going to do. I have seen this work all over the country. Project Vigilant by Thames Valley police is a brilliant example of work done with local businesses and local women’s groups to do exactly what my hon. Friend is talking about; I implore her force to implement a similar scheme.

My hon. Friend mentions the use of community protection notices. In her review, Elish Angiolini has some interesting things to say about what police should be doing in public spaces using certain orders, so I ask my hon. Friend to have a look at some of those things. We will be talking in the violence against women and girls strategy about some of the issues that she has raised today. However, as I have said, just putting things on the statute book does not necessarily mean that, operationally, they will be brilliant. My job is to make sure that before I commence anything, it can actually work in practice.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

I associate myself with the comments from across the House today. My thoughts are with Sarah Everard’s family and all those whose lives have been impacted by violence against women and girls.

The landmark 2019 study into rural domestic violence found that abuse in rural areas lasts longer, is more complex and is harder to tackle, while the policing response in those areas is largely inadequate. Years later, the figures do not suggest any significant improvement in outcomes for victims and survivors in rural areas. At a time when stresses faced by farmers could see victims left trapped in isolated rural communities, how will the refreshed violence against women and girls strategy improve outcomes for victims in rural areas?

[Jess Phillips]

Although I am an expert in this particular field, I am by no means an expert on rural communities, with the disparity and the need for better “by and for” services; we have “by and for” services for other under-represented communities. I really feel that there needs to be a considerably greater lobby around rurality and violence against women and girls; I am not the person to do this, so I implore the hon. Lady to act. I am totally here to hear it and to work alongside her, because what she says is absolutely the case.

On the idea that stresses faced by a particular community cause violence against women and girls, I must point out, though, that the vast majority of people face stresses in their lives—and the vast majority of men—do not go on to abuse. The causes of violence against women and girls—Lady Elish points out there is little prevention, and I very much hope to change that; that is my main focus—are actually rooted in something quite different.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jess Phillips and Sarah Dyke

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I can absolutely confirm that the part of the police and crime commissioners’ role that involves commissioning local victims’ services will be brought into the new system. It will not be that that money is gone from the centre; this is about how it will be given out. I cannot say for certain that all organisations that currently have that money will have it on the basis that they currently have it, because nobody could commit to that. That is the commissioner’s job. We look forward to the violence against women and girls strategy, because there will be a huge amount on victims’ commissioning in that.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

My constituent Fiona from Milborne Port is a victim of historical rape. With recent reporting highlighting the vile attitudes of some in regard to historical rape victims, Fiona has told me that her confidence in the judicial system and the police has been well and truly knocked, and detectives have told her that there is no starting point for their inquiries. What steps is the Minister taking, along with Cabinet colleagues, to support historical victims of violence against women and girls?

[Jess Phillips]

There is absolutely no reason why historical cases should not be brought forward and reviewed. As part of the work following on from the Casey review—certainly in cases of historical child sexual abuse—the opening of “no further action” cases has been worked on at pace through Operation Beaconport. More broadly, there are review systems, and I will send the hon. Member information about the organisations that the Home Office works with and that work alongside the police to look into the review systems that might be needed for people in cases such as hers and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Tulip Siddiq) that have not been picked up.

Men’s Violence against Women and Girls

Debate between Jess Phillips and Sarah Dyke

Friday 29th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Jess Phillips)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) for bringing forward this debate on such an important issue, and for what she has called the debate—it may not have been noted by anyone other than the eagle-eyed—which refers to “violence by men against women”. I noted it and appreciate it, because men’s violence against women and girls ruins lives on a truly terrible scale. It must be treated as a national emergency. It is a high-harm and high-volume crime which, because of the high volume, is difficult to grapple with, but we are absolutely determined to do that.

The data tells us that crimes such as domestic abuse, stalking, rape and other sexual offences disproportionately affect women. We also know that these crimes are predominantly, though not exclusively, committed by men. We have committed to halving violence against women and girls in the next decade. I will refer to some of the steps we are taking, although it is very nice for a Minister when all the steps we are going to take are mentioned in the preceding speech. I appreciate that. The steps include addressing the root causes, underlying behaviours and attitudes that cause violence against women and girls, and ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice. The femicides my hon. Friend highlighted when she began her speech tell the story better than any of us could. They are harrowing and each one a tragedy.

To say a positive thing, this new Parliament behaved beautifully in the previous debate and I feel proud today to call myself a parliamentarian. Mr Speaker, I do not know how you do it, because I literally cannot identify half the new Members of Parliament! The amount of men, from all parties, I have heard speaking up on violence against women and girls since I have been in my ministerial position has been a real sea change. The theme of this year’s White Ribbon Day, referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn), is “It starts with men”. I have really, really felt that. I doff my cap to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who has been in pretty much every debate I have been in on this subject. I really do feel like there has been quite a tide-turning in this regard, and it is really lovely to see here today men and women together speaking up on this issue.

We all know that domestic abuse is often a hidden crime that is not reported to the police. That is not acceptable. Victims deserve to feel safe and for justice to be upheld. In addition to relentlessly pursing perpetrators, it is also essential that we prevent reoffending and ensure that there is a comprehensive approach to perpetrators, from early intervention to targeting the most prolific and repeat offenders. This is why, as I outlined earlier—actually, I did not outline them; my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central outlined some of the things the Government are going to do—we have implemented a series of bold measures designed to strengthen the police response to violence against women and girls, and protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.

[Sarah Dyke]

After a case of domestic abuse, my constituent dealt with over two years of delay before eventually the CPS decided not to proceed with the case, as the perpetrator had not carried out any further cases. With that in mind, does the Minister agree that we must address delays in domestic abuse cases and referrals from the police to the CPS, as they pose a unique risk to women’s safety?

[Jess Phillips]

I absolutely agree. I think everybody sat in this debate could probably refer to a case in their own constituency with similar delays. In my role, I work very closely with both the police and the CPS to try to bottom out the issues causing some of those delays—other than the general degradation of our justice system—and to try to make improvements where we can. The attrition rate of victims dropping out is currently one of the biggest barriers to us holding people to account. And who could blame a person for dropping out after being made to wait? I totally agree with the hon. Lady.

As part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, we will ask police to relentlessly pursue those perpetrators who pose the greatest risk to women, and to use all the tools at their disposal to protect victims and get dangerous offenders off our streets. We will work with police to develop a national framework that uses data-driven tools and algorithms to track and target high-harm offenders involved in domestic abuse, sexual assault, harassment and stalking. In addition to the relentless pursuing of perpetrators, it is also essential that we prevent reoffending and, with that, have a truly comprehensive approach to deal with perpetration.

Many hon. Members in interventions mentioned brilliant organisations in their constituencies. I am delighted to hear that people have those—time was, there were not brilliant organisations all across the country. We must ensure that we maintain those brilliant services, which are so vital for helping keep victims safe.

I turn to the attitudes that my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central talked about, and specifically the attitudes of young men. I am the mother of two teenage boys. One is about to be not a teenager but an actual real adult—I mean, he’s not paying me any rent yet. [Laughter.] The data that she read out does not surprise me.

I think we always felt that there would be progress, with the “It’s just a domestic” attitudes gradually getting better with time. But I have been alarmed by what we see in the attitudes, perpetration and victimisation data, which is that currently this crime is trending young: the biggest growth area is those aged 16 to 19. All of us would think that that is a tragedy we had not seen coming; we thought that with the younger generation we would be able to program it out. I am afraid to say that that has not been done, so prevention and education will be fundamental to our approach. We will tackle the root causes of these crimes, including supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent. The idea that just because someone matched with somebody else on an online app meant they were owed something is the weakest idea of consent that I have ever heard.

We know that domestic abuse is one of the main reasons why children come into contact with children’s social care, and it is a feature in more than half the serious incidents reported to the child safeguarding practice review panel. We know that those who experience abuse before the age of 16 are more likely to go on to be victims or perpetrators in adulthood. That is why prevention has to be the absolute cornerstone of the Government’s actions going forward.

The Government are currently reviewing the content of the relationships, sex and health education curriculum. The Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of guidance for schools. As such, the Government will look carefully at the consultation responses and discuss with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence before setting out the next steps.

I express my gratitude once again to my hon. Friend for securing the debate and to all other hon. Members who are here on a Friday. Our mission is to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. It is ambitious but essential, and we will not do it without everybody in the House—as well as everybody in this country—doing it together. The points raised in the debate have once more reaffirmed how vital this work is and reminded us of the responsibility that we bear to women and girls across the country. The Government remain steadfast in that commitment and will tackle these issues head-on. I look forward to collaborating with all colleagues, as I always have.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jess Phillips and Sarah Dyke

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jess Phillips]

I have met Samantha Billingham, a local west midlands legend campaigning in this space, a number of times and I share my hon. Friend’s shock at the lack of knowledge about coercive control. All police, social workers and others in contact with victims of domestic abuse ought to be aware of coercive control and its insidious effects on the victim, and of course I would be delighted to meet her.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

There is a significant disparity in sentencing for murder based on whether a weapon was taken to the scene of a domestic crime or was already present. Sentences for murderers who used a weapon already available at the crime scene start 10 years lower than sentences for those who brought a weapon with them. Does the Minister agree that this disparity must be tackled?

[Jess Phillips]

I thank the hon. Lady and pay tribute to Julie Devey and Carole Gould, two of the parents who are fighting this campaign. A Ministry of Justice sentencing review is currently ongoing, and I know that Carole and Julie and Members here will want to feed into that.