Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Satvir Kaur and Samantha Dixon

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Samantha Dixon (Chester North and Neston) (Lab)]

13. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle violence against women and girls.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Satvir Kaur)]

Violence against women and girls is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and this Government have made a commitment to halve it. Progress towards achieving that includes rolling out dedicated VAWG teams in every police force, specialist rape and serious sex offence courtrooms, and the introduction of domestic abuse protection orders. We are teaching children in schools about healthy relationships, and we are preparing legislation to make it impossible for children to take, share and view nude images.

[Samantha Dixon]

I pay tribute to Chester Women’s Aid, which continues to campaign hard for victims and survivors of domestic abuse in my constituency. Can the Minister update the House on the roll-out of the new domestic abuse protection orders, which enable support services to apply for a protective order on behalf of a survivor?

[Satvir Kaur]

I thank my hon. Friend for her continued work in this space and Chester Women’s Aid for its vital work in supporting the community. Supporting victims is at the heart of the Government’s strategy, which is backed by £1 billion of cross-Government investment. Domestic abuse protection orders already exist in five areas, and more than 2,000 police-led DAPOs have been issued. DAPOs will be rolled out across England and Wales by the end of the year, providing stronger protection for victims, widening the scope and, as my hon. Friend says, enabling applications from the police, victims themselves and third parties such as Chester Women’s Aid.