Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce familial abuse.

This Government is committed to tackling domestic and sexual abuse in all its forms. Achieving our aim of halving violence against women and girls in a decade will require a whole systems approach.

The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) recognises children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right when they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse.

We recognise that domestic abuse and sexual violence can take many forms such as from family members in the context of so-called honour-based abuse, or older victims experiencing abuse from their partner or adult children. That is why we fund Hourglass and Karma Nirvana to deliver specialist helplines, which provide tailored support for older victims of domestic abuse and victims of honour-based abuse respectively.

This government also remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and working to keep children safe across the country. We are driving forward action right across government, education, children’s social care, health, policing, law enforcement, and working with industry, international and civil society partners to ensure we are all doing all that we can to tackle this horrific crime.