Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) domestic abuse and (b) parental abuse experienced by LGBTQ+ youth during the covid-19 outbreak.

We are acutely aware of the need to put victims at the heart of our approach to tackling domestic abuse at this time. We are working closely with domestic abuse charities to monitor and assess impacts and needs.

The Government has posted advice regarding national helplines, including specialist helplines, on gov.uk to guide victims to the most appropriate support for their individual needs (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help ). This has been extensively promoted through our awareness raising campaign #YouAreNotAlone.

The Home Office has announced £2m of funding to help bolster helplines at this time; £1.2m of this has already been allocated to provide Covid-19 support. This includes an additional £71,000 to Galop, which runs the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, to ensure that the service continues to be available to LGBT+ victims during this period.

This is in addition to the £750 million funding package announced by the Chancellor, £76 million of which will support survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence and modern slavery?as well as ensure that vulnerable children and young people continue to get the help they need. From this funding the HO launched a £2m fund for national and regionally based domestic abuse organisations. £793,000 of this has already been allocated to 13 organisations and additional bids are currently being assessed.

As part of its ongoing support for victims of domestic abuse, the Home Office has, in addition, provided £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the LBGT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse.