Thank you Mr Vice President and Special Rapporteur for your report on your visit to the UK in February last year under the previous Government. I have listened carefully to your comments this morning.
Tackling violence against women and girls, both domestically and internationally, is a top priority for the UK.
Special Rapporteur, we note that you highlighted several positive elements of the UK’s domestic response, including:
- robust legislation covering sexual violence, domestic abuse and modern slavery and human trafficking;
- criminal offences covering female genital mutilation and forced marriage;
- measures taken to prevent and improve employers’ responses to workplace harassment;
- an expansive definition of domestic abuse, which includes emotional abuse, coercive or controlling behaviour and economic abuse and recognises that children can be victims of domestic abuse;
- measures to tackle technology-facilitated violence, particularly the Online Safety Act 2023; and
- the strength of civil society organisations.
Nevertheless, we recognise that there are several areas for improvement that are relevant to the Special Rapporteur’s comments on the UK, such as:
- ensuring the sustainable provision of services for women affected by violence and abuse;
- ensuring children under the age of 16 receive effective safeguarding and support when they experience teenage relationship abuse; and
- ensuring more comprehensive and richer data is collected about these crimes and the individuals who commit and experience them.
We must also ensure sustainable and long-term resources for the implementation of policies and legislation across the four nations of our United Kingdom. Three devolution settlements – one each for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland – stipulate matters that are the responsibility of the UK Parliament and others that are the responsibility of the devolved legislatures. It is right that approaches can be tailored to the specific needs of each nation. Nevertheless, the four governments can and will work together to ensure a coherent and effective framework for the safety and security of people across our United Kingdom.
Mr Vice President,
The manifesto on which our current Government was elected last summer included the ambition to halve levels of violence against women and girls in a decade – an ambitious aim that requires a transformative approach across government, public services, the private sector and charities.
Since last year’s election, the Government has introduced several important measures to improve protection for victims of violence against women and girls and ensure perpetrators are held accountable. These include:
- the rollout of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected areas and the introduction of “Raneem’s Law” strengthening the police’s response domestic abuse by embedding specialists in emergency service control rooms in specific areas;
- a new package of measures to tackle stalking, including a review of legislation and introducing statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release information identifying online stalkers to their victims; and
- £13 million for a new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection, to improve the policing response.
This year, our Government will publish a new strategy which will set the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on that Manifesto pledge to halve levels of violence against women and girls in a decade. This will be underpinned by an evidence-based theory of change to ensure that our approach is informed by the best available evidence.
Finally, while I have the floor, we note your latest thematic report, Special Rapporteur. We are not going to make a separate statement in relation to that report but I would like to express our support to the joint statement Colombia will deliver today on the use of established terms such as gender-based violence.
Thank you both.
