Roger Gale
Main Page: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)Department Debates - View all Roger Gale's debates with the Cabinet Office
(1 month, 1 week ago)
Commons Chamber
Catherine Atkinson
I completely agree. Domestic abuse is not caused by football results; it is caused by perpetrators who make the choice to abuse women. Refuge, Women’s Aid and other specialist organisations are clear that suggesting otherwise allows abusers to deflect responsibility and avoid accountability. This Government are clear that there is no excuse, no context and no mitigating circumstances that make domestic abuse acceptable. I hope that the hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby (Sarah Pochin) will reflect on the harm that that kind of framing causes to victims.
Does the Minister agree that it is iniquitous that at least one of the doctors responsible for the intrusive examination of young women prior to their rape and sexual abuse by Mohammed Fayed is still practising in London? If she does, would she approach the General Medical Council to ask why that is?
Catherine Atkinson
The scourge of abuse, whoever commits it, must be rooted out, across all professions. We are committed, through our violence against women and girls strategy, to halving violence against women and girls. We need to look at healthcare settings as well as everywhere else, and I would certainly be happy to meet the right hon. Gentleman to discuss that issue further.