Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to issue an official apology on behalf of the Government to lesbian mothers who had their custody rights affected between the 1970s and 1990s because of their sexuality.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I have been very saddened to hear accounts from lesbian mothers who have said that their custody rights in earlier decades were affected by their sexuality.
The government is committed to ensuring equality and fairness in today’s justice system.
The legal framework has changed in many ways over the past decades. Following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, where decisions are made about a child or their upbringing, the court’s primary consideration must be the welfare of that child and what will be in their best interests.
The UK has also developed an expansive legal framework to help ensure that LGBT+ people and families are safe, included and protected from discrimination. This includes the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls in North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the rate of prosecutions brought against perpetrators of domestic abuse in North Warwickshire.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The downward trend in domestic-abuse related prosecutions across England and Wales, including in Warwickshire and Bedworth, since the year ending March 2017 is deeply concerning. I am committed to working with all justice partners, including the police and the CPS, to improve this and, in doing so, provide justice to more victims and hold more offenders to account.
The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. In our first four months in Government, we have committed to fast-track rape cases through the criminal justice system and ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes. Further, we have announced that we will introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms from early next year and launch a pilot of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders this November to provide more protection for victims. These are just some of the first steps we are taking to tackle VAWG and improve the justice system response to domestic abuse across England and Wales.