Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) risk assessment and (b) planning her Department has conducted on the potential increased risk to victims of (i) domestic abuse and (ii) sexual violence as covid-19 lockdown measures are lifted.

We are working closely with specialist charities, the Domestic Abuse and Victims’ Commissioners and the police to understand the potential impacts on victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence as lockdown measures are lifted.

It remains a priority to ensure that victims of domestic abuse or sexual violence are able to access appropriate help or support both during and following the lockdown period. That is why the Government announced £76 million of funding for organisations supporting survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, as well as vulnerable children and their families and victims of modern slavery.

Police forces continue to deal proactively with domestic abuse incidents and will aim to build on innovative approaches established over this period to further protect victims of abuse and to target perpetrators, as well as responding to any more general changes in crime and offending as lockdown measures are lifted.

The Prime Minister’s Hidden Harms Summit in May, further underlined the Government’s commitment to planning to ensure that vulnerable victims are not forgotten during the lockdown period or in the subsequent period.