Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown

Jo Gideon Excerpts

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

We have considerably exceeded the time allocated for this statement, but I do not think it would be fair to cut off the last three people who are on the list. However, I say now—not only to people who have taken part in this statement but to all Members, if anyone is paying attention—that if we are going to make virtual proceedings work, we have to do it as if we were in the Chamber, and that means that we do it quickly. It is not a conversation; it is questions and answers. Now we really have to go quickly. I say the same for the next statement, because it is not fair for the people who will be here at 5 o’clock and simply will not get to speak.

[Jo Gideon (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con) [V]]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Due to the emergency circumstances, victims of domestic abuse sometimes have to flee, leaving behind all their possessions, including mobile phones, making it harder to stay in contact with the police and other agencies. In Stoke-on-Trent, the police have launched a fantastic initiative whereby some vulnerable residents and domestic abuse victims have been given mobile phones loaded with useful contacts based on the individual’s situation. Does the Minister agree that it is important to support measures enabling domestic abuse victims to leave their home environment while eradicating the fear of being cut off from society, especially when covid-19 is exacerbating isolation across the board?

[Victoria Atkins]

We are keen not just to help victims to flee home when that is necessary for their own safety but, importantly, to keep them in their own homes where it is safe to do so, and to ask, or demand, that the perpetrator leaves. There is a whole host of work going on on this. Perhaps I can take the opportunity to discuss it with my hon. Friend in slower time outside of this statement, but I thank her for raising it.