16/12/2016

:00:00. > :00:21.Order. Order. The point of order. Thank you. During this wins De

:00:22. > :00:26.Guzman opposition debate looking at the impact of the Government's

:00:27. > :00:29.Autumn Statement on women the right honourable member for South West

:00:30. > :00:36.Herefordshire, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. For Hertfordshire.

:00:37. > :00:42.I do apologise. This parish and undermined the work of the House of

:00:43. > :00:45.Commons library. I hope you will agree that the house, celebrity

:00:46. > :00:49.heart of parliament, it is nonpolitical and non-biased and

:00:50. > :00:52.presents research for everyone to use. In the same debate he went on

:00:53. > :00:59.to discredit the research of the women's budget group, an independent

:01:00. > :01:02.network of economists and academics. Whilst I recognise that all research

:01:03. > :01:06.methodologies should be open to robust scrutiny and discussion,

:01:07. > :01:10.there is a pattern emerging around the gender impact analysis made by

:01:11. > :01:14.the House of Commons library of successive budgets and Autumn

:01:15. > :01:18.statements. The Treasury appears to undermine the work of the library by

:01:19. > :01:22.calling into question the integrity of their work and objecting at their

:01:23. > :01:26.analysis yet the Treasury have continually refused to carry out

:01:27. > :01:31.their own gender impact analysis of their own economic policies. As is

:01:32. > :01:35.prescribed in the qualities act. Can you advise me please and how best to

:01:36. > :01:38.proceed with this matter to ensure the Minister either retracts his

:01:39. > :01:42.statement, makes an effort to actually engage with the library to

:01:43. > :01:44.discuss and understand their methodologies or apologises to the

:01:45. > :01:51.library and the women's budget group on denying being smug for

:01:52. > :02:03.undermining their sterling research. I fear she invest me with powers

:02:04. > :02:11.which I possess. If any member feels he or she has made an incorrect

:02:12. > :02:15.statement in the house it is open to that member to correct it and it

:02:16. > :02:18.should indeed be corrected, but where there are matters of debate

:02:19. > :02:23.and argument I do not think it is appropriate for me to intrude.

:02:24. > :02:28.Suffice it to say that I think the honourable lady has found her

:02:29. > :02:33.selfish and -- salvation and no doubt done what she thinks is right

:02:34. > :02:36.by the fine employees of the library by raising this point of order,

:02:37. > :02:43.which is now on the record and which, I trust, will be seen by the

:02:44. > :02:45.very library staff whom come if I may say so, without excessive pun,

:02:46. > :03:01.she has just championed. It's like open mike. Point of order,

:03:02. > :03:06.Mr Mike Weir. The question is that the host is it in private. As many

:03:07. > :03:13.of that opinion is AI and the country no? -- and on the contrary

:03:14. > :03:21.and over and I think the nose have it. Order. The clock will proceed to

:03:22. > :03:24.reach the orders of the day. -- the clerk will proceed. Preventing and

:03:25. > :03:29.combating violence against women and domestic violence, ratification of

:03:30. > :03:37.Convention Bill, second reading. Doctor Amy Whiteford. Thank you Mr

:03:38. > :03:40.Speaker. I beg to move the preventing and combating violence

:03:41. > :03:46.against women and domestic violence ratification of Convention Bill Vina

:03:47. > :03:49.read a second time. Mr Speaker, the UK signed the Council of Europe

:03:50. > :03:54.Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and

:03:55. > :04:00.domestic violence back in June 2012 but has yet to ratify it. Istanbul

:04:01. > :04:02.convention as it better-known is a unique, ground-breaking

:04:03. > :04:07.international legal instrument that enshrines in law the basic human

:04:08. > :04:10.rights of women and girls to live lives free of violence and the fear

:04:11. > :04:15.of violence and crucially it provides a comprehensive set of

:04:16. > :04:19.mechanisms to achieve those aims. The provisions of the convention

:04:20. > :04:22.into preventing violence against women, protect the victims and

:04:23. > :04:27.survivors of abuse, price skip arbitrators and told them to account

:04:28. > :04:30.for their actions and commits governments to providing not only

:04:31. > :04:35.properly resourced support services through strategic policy framework,

:04:36. > :04:39.it commits governments to robust monitoring, data collection and

:04:40. > :04:42.public scrutiny. It is a formidable package of measures which are

:04:43. > :04:46.Scottish women's it has described as quite simply the best piece of

:04:47. > :04:50.international policy and practice for eliminating violence against

:04:51. > :04:54.women that exists, setting minimum standards for Government responses

:04:55. > :04:57.to victims and survivors of gender-based violence, it is a

:04:58. > :05:01.blueprint for how we move from small change at the margins to a system

:05:02. > :05:07.that is designed to end domestic violence and abuse against women. We

:05:08. > :05:10.badly need a step change in efforts to limit violence against women.

:05:11. > :05:16.Three women are killed by their partner or X every week in England

:05:17. > :05:19.and Wales alone. In the last year according to the crime survey for

:05:20. > :05:25.England and Wales, 1.2 million women were victims of domestic violence,

:05:26. > :05:28.in Scotland last year over 58,000 incidents of domestic violence were

:05:29. > :05:36.reported to police and across the UK as a whole police recorded over 87

:05:37. > :05:41.and a half thousand rapes and over 400,000 sexual assaults. Given that

:05:42. > :05:45.many come possible in most incidents of sexual assault and rape go

:05:46. > :05:48.unreported, we must not underestimate the scale of the

:05:49. > :05:52.challenge we face. We are living in an environment where gender-based

:05:53. > :05:55.violence is so grisly -- pervasive and normalised that we hardly notice

:05:56. > :05:58.how much we put up with. Last week you in parliament we heard harrowing

:05:59. > :06:04.accounts from the members for Edinburgh West, Eastleigh and badly

:06:05. > :06:09.in Spain who so courageously spoke out about their own dreadful a spear

:06:10. > :06:13.insists. But one in three women experiences domestic abuse or sexual

:06:14. > :06:17.violence in their lifetime. One in three. That is recognised to

:06:18. > :06:22.probably be a conservative estimate. Even those who avoid personal attack

:06:23. > :06:28.are living in a world saturated with images of glorified sexual violence,

:06:29. > :06:34.with a toxic public discourse where both singing -- boasting of sexual

:06:35. > :06:39.assault is refrained as the locker room talk. The people who are raped

:06:40. > :06:43.or so are frequently shamed or blamed. And in some cases

:06:44. > :06:47.irreparably harmed. It reflects all of us, restricts where we go, what

:06:48. > :06:51.we were what we dare to say out loud. In my view we must name

:06:52. > :06:55.violence against women for what it is: The most pervasive and systemic

:06:56. > :07:01.Yemen right abuse in the world today. Affecting women in every

:07:02. > :07:07.street, town and every city in every country around the world. -- said

:07:08. > :07:12.Sister Dimmick -- systemic human rights abuse. It also compounds

:07:13. > :07:15.gender inequality. Those who are committed to pushing the issue up

:07:16. > :07:20.the political agenda have our work cut out for us and should also

:07:21. > :07:25.acknowledge that what although it apparently affects women it also

:07:26. > :07:29.affects men, non-binary people and especially children, girls and boys.

:07:30. > :07:34.We also must understand that violence against women is neither

:07:35. > :07:39.natural nor inevitable. We can prevent and challenge it and we can

:07:40. > :07:42.hold the perpetrators to account. Those who have the privilege of

:07:43. > :07:46.shipping and influencing legislation must acknowledge our

:07:47. > :07:48.responsibilities, but our shoulders to the wheel and make the mission of

:07:49. > :07:55.gender-based violence a political priority. The elimination. I'm

:07:56. > :07:57.grateful to the honourable lady that I congratulate her on the bill which

:07:58. > :08:02.I support. She mentioned children. Of course is she aware that

:08:03. > :08:05.extraordinary something like a of domestic violence against women

:08:06. > :08:08.start during pregnancy and something like more than three quarters of

:08:09. > :08:13.cases involving children being safeguarded or taken into care,

:08:14. > :08:17.domestic violence is the single biggest element. It is a huge

:08:18. > :08:21.challenge for our society. I'm grateful for the honourable

:08:22. > :08:24.gentleman for his point. Many people are shocked when they hear those

:08:25. > :08:27.statistics for the first time, that so much domestic abuse begins when

:08:28. > :08:33.women are probably at their most vulnerable during pregnancy, when

:08:34. > :08:36.they are a position where they are bringing new life into the world and

:08:37. > :08:42.yet don't have the protection they should expect from the fathers,

:08:43. > :08:44.often come of their children. He makes an important point and I'm

:08:45. > :08:50.grateful for his support for the bill today. I want to take a bit of

:08:51. > :08:56.time this morning to set out why Istanbul convention is so important.

:08:57. > :09:00.It offers such a powerful vehicle for tackling gender-based violence

:09:01. > :09:06.and why the UK must pirate eyes it's ratification. -- must prioritise. It

:09:07. > :09:09.dimensions and recognises dimensions and recognises

:09:10. > :09:12.gender-based violence often crosses state borders. States that have

:09:13. > :09:16.ratified the Istanbul convention committed to promoting and

:09:17. > :09:21.protecting the right of all their citizens to live free from violence

:09:22. > :09:25.in the public and private sphere. They commit to working to end

:09:26. > :09:30.discrimination and promote equality between women and men and they

:09:31. > :09:33.commit to working within a coordinated, strategic, accountable

:09:34. > :09:37.and adequately resourced framework of policy and practice. The

:09:38. > :09:41.convention is broad in scope, covering aspects of criminal law,

:09:42. > :09:46.civil law, migration will and sets out a minimum standards for the

:09:47. > :09:49.protection of survivors, access to services and requires signatories to

:09:50. > :09:57.work to prevent violence and bring about attitudinal change. It is

:09:58. > :10:00.closely addresses some of the most common manifestations of violence

:10:01. > :10:04.against women, physical and psychological abuse, stocking,

:10:05. > :10:07.sexual and violent -- sexual violence including rape, so-called

:10:08. > :10:14.honour crimes and female genital origination. It is not exhaustive

:10:15. > :10:16.but it recognises the differentiated risks facing women depending on

:10:17. > :10:21.circumstances was a winner women from all backgrounds are affected by

:10:22. > :10:25.the types of violence, all income groups, ages all businesses ease and

:10:26. > :10:29.cultures and religions and all political persuasions. We also know

:10:30. > :10:33.poorer women are more exposed to risk and for example, disabled women

:10:34. > :10:36.are more likely to experience abuse than able-bodied women. We know

:10:37. > :10:44.refugees and asylum seekers are especially vulnerable. In this

:10:45. > :10:46.respect we see gender into quality -- inequality compounding and cut

:10:47. > :10:52.across other forms of disadvantage and the commission addresses these

:10:53. > :10:55.and other forms of discrimination. Several weeks ago I had a

:10:56. > :10:59.conversation with Doctor Lisa Gormly at the London School of economics,

:11:00. > :11:02.one of the UK plus leading experts on Istanbul convention and she

:11:03. > :11:08.surprised me by emphasising the key part of the convention is Article

:11:09. > :11:14.7-11 because at first glance, let me read at some headings. Comments of

:11:15. > :11:17.an equality policies financial resources, non-governmental

:11:18. > :11:20.organisations and civil society, coordinating body, data collection

:11:21. > :11:28.and research. It is pretty dry stuff.

:11:29. > :11:33.It is these provisions which will turn a good critical analysis of

:11:34. > :11:39.violence against women and a collection of useful case studies

:11:40. > :11:42.into a strategic and dynamic vehicle for ongoing change. It is these

:11:43. > :11:46.provisions which will allow us to learn from the experience of others

:11:47. > :11:48.in terms of what works, and will allow us to think strategically

:11:49. > :11:52.about how we provide support to women at different levels of

:11:53. > :11:58.government, local, regional and international. It is these

:11:59. > :12:01.provisions which will help get funding for women at a time when

:12:02. > :12:04.austerity cuts to local government budgets and voluntary sector funding

:12:05. > :12:12.are placing these lifeline services in jeopardy. Of course, I give way.

:12:13. > :12:17.I obviously support the right honourable lady. When she talks

:12:18. > :12:22.about women's refuge shelters, which are now under the hammer, and have

:12:23. > :12:25.been closed down in many cases...? The honourable gentleman makes a

:12:26. > :12:30.vital point. But I think one of the reasons why it is important that we

:12:31. > :12:35.do ratify the Istanbul convention is because it gives protection to these

:12:36. > :12:38.services in law for the first time in a coordinated way. So you will

:12:39. > :12:45.not have one local authority cutting services while another maintains it.

:12:46. > :12:48.Also it forces governments across the piece to think strategically and

:12:49. > :12:53.think about how they go about providing services in a coordinated

:12:54. > :12:56.way, not a piecemeal way. I think that is one of the most important

:12:57. > :13:01.thing is that this convention will do. It will also make government at

:13:02. > :13:04.every level think twice before it pulls the funding from the voluntary

:13:05. > :13:09.organisation which is delivering the lifeline services to women who are

:13:10. > :13:13.living with domestic violence or trying to flee from it. Mr Speaker,

:13:14. > :13:17.we are already seeing the impact of the Istanbul convention. The UK

:13:18. > :13:21.Government and many non-governmental organisations are actively involved

:13:22. > :13:25.-- have been actively involved in the development of the convention. I

:13:26. > :13:30.think it is evident that the Istanbul convention process has

:13:31. > :13:33.already been a powerful impetus to modernising domestic legislation in

:13:34. > :13:37.a number of relevant areas. I do think it is important to acknowledge

:13:38. > :13:42.the steps the Government has taken in recent years to pave the way for

:13:43. > :13:45.ratification, most notably the new legislation on forced marriage,

:13:46. > :13:50.modern slavery, stopping female genital mutilation, so-called

:13:51. > :13:54.revenge porn and controlling coercive behaviour, all of which

:13:55. > :13:57.prepared the UK for compliance. We have seen similar legislative

:13:58. > :14:02.progress in Scotland, most crucially, the Equally Safe strategy

:14:03. > :14:06.and the forthcoming domestic violence legislation which is

:14:07. > :14:08.currently out for consultation. In this respect I think the Istanbul

:14:09. > :14:14.convention is already driving change. But, Mr Speaker, we need to

:14:15. > :14:18.finish the job. Having signed the Istanbul convention in June 2012,

:14:19. > :14:22.the UK has still to ratify the treaty. I will give way to the

:14:23. > :14:26.honourable lady. I thank the honourable member for giving way and

:14:27. > :14:30.I thank her for her private members' bill, which is doing a very

:14:31. > :14:34.important job this morning in the House. I wrote to the Government

:14:35. > :14:37.this year about the ratification of the convention, and the reply I

:14:38. > :14:41.received in February said, we will seek to legislate when the approach

:14:42. > :14:44.is agreed and Parliamentary time allows. Will she agree with me that

:14:45. > :14:47.this does not show the right approach to the urgency of this

:14:48. > :14:52.issue? I agree entirely with the honourable lady that this is an

:14:53. > :14:56.extremely urgent issue. I don't think anyone can use the excuse of

:14:57. > :15:00.Parliamentary time any more, given the way that business has been

:15:01. > :15:02.collapsing early in recent weeks. I think there is plenty of

:15:03. > :15:07.Parliamentary time. What we need is political will. I hope that my bill

:15:08. > :15:11.will be a step along that road to give us the opportunity to examine

:15:12. > :15:17.this in more detail and to push the Government to follow up words with

:15:18. > :15:20.actions in that regard. The Government has consistently said

:15:21. > :15:26.that it wants to ratify the convention and that it intends to

:15:27. > :15:30.ratify the convention, but we have reached a hiatus. The process has

:15:31. > :15:35.stalled, and the Istanbul convention has now been languishing on the back

:15:36. > :15:38.burner for more than 4.5 years - that's far more than convention is

:15:39. > :15:42.usually take to ratify. Bill before the House today is an attempt to

:15:43. > :15:46.shift that logjam and give the Government the impetus it needs to

:15:47. > :15:52.take the final steps needed to bring the UK into compliance. I will give

:15:53. > :15:56.way. I've, too, congratulate her on her bill. It is a vitally important

:15:57. > :15:59.matter. Could she say what she thinks it is which is actually

:16:00. > :16:03.holding the Government back from taking these steps to ratify it? I

:16:04. > :16:08.do have some theories about that, and I hope to come onto those in due

:16:09. > :16:12.course. But at the end of the day it is political will which holds these

:16:13. > :16:15.things back, and I think the fact that so many people are here on the

:16:16. > :16:20.Friday before Christmas shows that many people recognise that this is

:16:21. > :16:24.an absolutely crucial issue. As members will see from the bill

:16:25. > :16:26.before us today, it is quite a straightforward bill which would

:16:27. > :16:31.require the Government to bring forward a clear timetable for

:16:32. > :16:34.ratification within four weeks of the bill receiving royal assent. It

:16:35. > :16:39.would place a requirement on the Home Secretary to come to Parliament

:16:40. > :16:42.on an annual basis and report on our compliance with the Istanbul

:16:43. > :16:46.convention. This would give members across the House the opportunity

:16:47. > :16:49.just go to nice the Government's record on compliance and tackling

:16:50. > :16:53.violence against women. Ratification of this treaty is to be much more

:16:54. > :16:57.than a tick box exercise. It is a challenge for all of us legislators

:16:58. > :17:00.and policymakers to make sure it is working in practice, to improve

:17:01. > :17:03.women's lives. Strengthening Parliament would also improve our

:17:04. > :17:09.compliance with Article 70 of the Istanbul convention. Mr Speaker, I

:17:10. > :17:13.want to turn to those areas where the UK is not yes, fully compliant

:17:14. > :17:17.with the Istanbul convention. The main sticking point appears to be

:17:18. > :17:21.article 44 of the convention, which makes provision for countries to

:17:22. > :17:24.establish jurisdiction over an offence committed by one of their

:17:25. > :17:30.nationals out with their territory. I am told by Learned Friend is that

:17:31. > :17:33.extraterritorial jurisdiction can be a tricky legal area, and

:17:34. > :17:39.Parliamentary clerks and civil servants visibly blanched when you

:17:40. > :17:42.say those magic words. But the UK already exercises extraterritorial

:17:43. > :17:46.jurisdiction in relation to dozens of serious offences in a wide range

:17:47. > :17:50.of areas, including in several relevant to the Istanbul convention,

:17:51. > :17:51.such as forced marriage, trafficking, female genital

:17:52. > :17:56.mutilation and sexual offences against children. However, there are

:17:57. > :18:00.still a number of offences, including rape, sexual assault and

:18:01. > :18:03.domestic abuse, where it does not yes, applied and where compliance

:18:04. > :18:08.would require changes to domestic law. Moreover, some of these

:18:09. > :18:11.offences relate to areas of devolved responsibility in Scotland and

:18:12. > :18:15.Northern Ireland. So UK ministers would also need to work with

:18:16. > :18:18.ministers in Holyrood and Stormont to secure the necessary legislative

:18:19. > :18:22.changes in the Scottish Parliament and northern Irish Assembly or

:18:23. > :18:25.agreed registered of consent motion is. I am pleased to say that the

:18:26. > :18:28.Scottish Government has signalled its willingness to push this

:18:29. > :18:33.forward, and I've been heartened by the support for this ten convention,

:18:34. > :18:39.and my bill, from Northern Ireland MPs across this political spectrum.

:18:40. > :18:43.I want to be clear what difference this convention would make and why

:18:44. > :18:46.it matters. A few weeks ago, the honourable member for Calder Valley

:18:47. > :18:50.raised at PMQs the case of a constituent of his who it is alleged

:18:51. > :18:55.was raped by another British national outside the UK. If we had

:18:56. > :18:59.already ratified the Convention and integrated the provisions set out in

:19:00. > :19:01.article 44 into domestic legislation, the authorities here

:19:02. > :19:07.could have investigated and prosecuted that crime and crimes

:19:08. > :19:10.like it. Another example, one women's organisation has been

:19:11. > :19:15.working tirelessly to highlight the circumstances surrounding the death

:19:16. > :19:20.of a UK citizen whose family believe was the victim of a so-called honour

:19:21. > :19:25.killing in India. The UK already has extraterritorial jurisdiction over

:19:26. > :19:27.the crime of murder, but the contestant circumstances of her

:19:28. > :19:31.death in this case have made it difficult for her family to get the

:19:32. > :19:35.police here involved, even though they claim there is evidence that

:19:36. > :19:38.serious crime was planned in the UK. Genk ratification of the Istanbul

:19:39. > :19:41.convention would strengthen the law to provide unambiguous protection

:19:42. > :19:44.for those at risk of honour -based violence. The Istanbul convention

:19:45. > :19:49.would also offer significantly enhanced protection to women who

:19:50. > :19:53.spend time working overseas, those who work for our lines or on push

:19:54. > :19:57.its. Many women travel abroad in the course of their professional lives,

:19:58. > :20:01.but if for example a colleague sexually assaults or rapes you in a

:20:02. > :20:06.country where the law is weak, you may have little or no redress.

:20:07. > :20:10.Workplace harassment policy is not designed to deal with criminal

:20:11. > :20:15.violence, nor should it be. We need to give our police and courts the

:20:16. > :20:18.authority to hold UK nationals accountable for their behaviour

:20:19. > :20:23.abroad, which would constitute a serious crime at home. We already

:20:24. > :20:26.exercise these powers in relation to child sexual offences, but not for

:20:27. > :20:32.sexual offences against adult women. We exercise extraterritorial

:20:33. > :20:35.jurisdiction in relation to terrorist offences, but not for

:20:36. > :20:38.those who are terrorised behind closed doors. It is important that

:20:39. > :20:44.we stay and a strong signal that crimes like rape, -- that we send a

:20:45. > :20:49.strong signal that crimes like rape and sexual abuse, committed by UK

:20:50. > :20:54.nationals, will be taken seriously wherever they occur in the world.

:20:55. > :20:56.The key point is the very existence of extraterritorial jurisdiction,

:20:57. > :21:00.the possibility of sanction, will act as a powerful deterrent and help

:21:01. > :21:04.end the impunity with which some of the most violent perpetrators have

:21:05. > :21:09.evaded justice. These people should have nowhere to hide. The Government

:21:10. > :21:13.needs to take the Istanbul convention out of the bottom drawer,

:21:14. > :21:18.where it has been filed for far too long in a folder marked, too

:21:19. > :21:21.complicated, too difficult, too low a priority. And we need to work

:21:22. > :21:24.together across this House and across covenant departments and the

:21:25. > :21:30.devolved administrations to move things forward. I will give way. I

:21:31. > :21:34.thank my honourable for for giving way. I want to congratulate her on

:21:35. > :21:37.bringing forward this bill. Does she agree it is important that the

:21:38. > :21:40.ratification goes through the show that the UK is showing global

:21:41. > :21:45.leadership on this issue? We heard Westminster hall, over 70% of the

:21:46. > :21:50.female population have been subject to sexual assault. It is used as a

:21:51. > :21:53.weapon of war. That is completely unacceptable and it is vitally

:21:54. > :21:57.important that the UK shows global leadership by ratifying the

:21:58. > :22:02.convention? I think the honourable gentleman's point is very well made.

:22:03. > :22:06.And those were shocking statistics which come from that part of the

:22:07. > :22:10.world, reminding us how serious this issue is at a global level. The

:22:11. > :22:15.point about leadership I think is also right. Of parliaments like this

:22:16. > :22:20.one, where the rule of law is well established, where our legislative

:22:21. > :22:23.recess is robust, finds this too difficult to do, how on earth can we

:22:24. > :22:27.ask other countries where they do not have the same traditions of

:22:28. > :22:32.governance to be following our example? I think we do need to set

:22:33. > :22:36.up and -- sit up and show some leadership at a global level. Is it

:22:37. > :22:39.not also the case, as with other private members' bill is in This

:22:40. > :22:47.Place, that it is the message that we send out? This has languished for

:22:48. > :22:51.4.5 years, which sends out the message that violence against women

:22:52. > :22:54.is not important. And then we wonder why women do not report attacks or

:22:55. > :22:59.intimidation in their own home? My honourable friend makes another very

:23:00. > :23:04.good point. We know that these crimes are terribly underreported.

:23:05. > :23:08.Some of the organisations that work with victims and survivors estimate

:23:09. > :23:16.that as much as 90% of the women who use their services have not actually

:23:17. > :23:21.reported the crimes to the police. So, yes, we need to let people know

:23:22. > :23:24.that it is safe to speak up and there will be support available.

:23:25. > :23:27.Until we do that, I don't think we will see people coming forward in

:23:28. > :23:32.the kinds of numbers that we know the problem demands. I will give way

:23:33. > :23:41.to the honourable gentleman. You don't have to go as far away as

:23:42. > :23:47.Sudan to see examples of countries which do not intend to rectify this

:23:48. > :23:50.convention. One can look, for example, to Germany. On New Year's

:23:51. > :23:53.Eve last year there was the most appalling violence against women,

:23:54. > :24:00.but Germany has not even signed, let alone ratified, this convention. I

:24:01. > :24:02.am really very surprised at the honourable gentleman thinking we

:24:03. > :24:08.should be following the example of Germany in this, actually! Anyway, I

:24:09. > :24:12.will leave that. Mr Speaker, before I conclude, I would like to thank

:24:13. > :24:16.very sincerely honourable members from all parties who have made the

:24:17. > :24:22.effort to be here today, giving up the last constituency Friday before

:24:23. > :24:25.Christmas, and in some cases clashing with long-standing diary

:24:26. > :24:32.commitments. MPs from all parties and sides have signalled their

:24:33. > :24:35.support, and I want in particular to thank the honourable members for

:24:36. > :24:39.Birmingham Yardley, Rotherham and Basingstoke for their advice and

:24:40. > :24:42.help. And ministers who have been willing to meet with me for

:24:43. > :24:46.discussions ahead of the bill. I'm hopeful that a united voice from

:24:47. > :24:50.Parliament today can bring ratification significantly closer. I

:24:51. > :24:54.also want to acknowledge a number of women whose expertise on the

:24:55. > :24:59.Istanbul convention I have relied upon. I have been lucky to have a

:25:00. > :25:03.formidably erudite human rights advisers from all parts of the UK. I

:25:04. > :25:10.would like to thank Lisa Gormley, Marsha Scott, Hilary Fisher, Gemma

:25:11. > :25:15.Linfield, Chris McCann eight... I would like to thank all of those for

:25:16. > :25:21.all of their invaluable insights. I also want to thank my brilliant

:25:22. > :25:25.assistant, Nathan Sparling, whose work has been amazing. I also want

:25:26. > :25:28.to pay special tribute to the women behind the change campaign for their

:25:29. > :25:31.relentless determination to get the Istanbul convention on the statute

:25:32. > :25:40.book. They have been purely inspiring. They run the campaign in

:25:41. > :25:43.their spare time on a voluntary basis, coordinating with

:25:44. > :25:46.professional and nonprofessional women's organisations and campaign

:25:47. > :25:49.groups all over the UK. They have been doing an incredible, who is I

:25:50. > :25:57.know that they will not give up until they have achieved their goal.

:25:58. > :26:02.Ratification is not an end in itself, it must be a platform for

:26:03. > :26:06.ongoing process. Often the critics of processes that are ongoing but

:26:07. > :26:09.pointed treaty is a piece of paper and setting a and duties in

:26:10. > :26:12.international law does not necessarily give them a perfect and

:26:13. > :26:18.sometimes that is demonstrate the true but we must not let that happen

:26:19. > :26:23.here because although the Istanbul conviction Dott commissioners are

:26:24. > :26:26.solid base camp we still have a mountain to climb and we must render

:26:27. > :26:31.the scale of the problem. We must use this convention to measure

:26:32. > :26:35.progress and bank of the games. We must use its robust monitoring data

:26:36. > :26:39.collection and reporting mechanisms to drive sustained reductions in

:26:40. > :26:42.violence over the medium and longer terms. The dynamic nature of the key

:26:43. > :26:45.articles of the stand the convention will be crucial to developing the

:26:46. > :26:50.policies and services that will deliver progress and deliver the

:26:51. > :26:54.changes in attitudes and behaviour that will end the scourge of

:26:55. > :26:58.gender-based violence. Lastly, I also believe the ratification of the

:26:59. > :27:01.Istanbul convention is important because of its symbolism and the

:27:02. > :27:04.message it sends to women everywhere about our dignity, our rights to

:27:05. > :27:07.equality and our rights to live equality and our rights to live

:27:08. > :27:13.lives free of sexual and domestic violence. The powerful symbolism of

:27:14. > :27:17.the convention matters because it reinforces the confidence of women

:27:18. > :27:21.in ourselves and in the moral force of our long struggle for equality. I

:27:22. > :27:26.believe passionately that we can end violence against women, no one says

:27:27. > :27:32.it is easy or will happen overnight but ratification takes us a big step

:27:33. > :27:42.closer and ask members to my bill today. Order. The question is that

:27:43. > :27:51.the bill be now read a second time. Thank you. May I congratulate the

:27:52. > :27:54.member from Banff and Buchan on securing this very important debate

:27:55. > :28:03.and you have my absolute and full support. This Istanbul convention is

:28:04. > :28:10.historic, as the member has said. It is the first international treaty

:28:11. > :28:15.that defines violence against women, a legal definition. So a violation

:28:16. > :28:19.of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. I

:28:20. > :28:20.believe this is absolutely the right time for this Government to ratify

:28:21. > :28:27.the convention. It is overdue but the convention. It is overdue but

:28:28. > :28:32.this is a historic time, our Prime Minister is a woman. And a Home

:28:33. > :28:36.Secretary is a woman. And we have a woman bringing in this bill. This

:28:37. > :28:42.would be a good time for us to bring this forward. I also do applaud the

:28:43. > :28:45.Government that the Government four years ago did sign up to this

:28:46. > :28:50.convention. The member for Tehran from us did say this month that our

:28:51. > :28:55.Government is complying and she said with every single aspect of the

:28:56. > :28:57.convention. I do applaud that this Government does have

:28:58. > :29:02.extraterritorial jurisdiction over female genital mutilation and forced

:29:03. > :29:10.marriage. Things about which I have spoken previously. But why ratifying

:29:11. > :29:14.this convention is important for my constituents is so that the

:29:15. > :29:19.Government is aligned with what is going on at the ground level in all

:29:20. > :29:23.constituencies. I'm sure. In my constituency of Twickenham there is

:29:24. > :29:28.amazing work being done but it was only as a local councillor and now

:29:29. > :29:38.as a member of Parliament in my area that I realised how appalling the

:29:39. > :29:41.challenges are. It is a huge challenge for our society and it is

:29:42. > :29:47.a huge challenge for Twickenham. On average the police have called out

:29:48. > :29:53.in my borough to three times every night for domestic violence. Indeed,

:29:54. > :29:56.one a few months back when I spend a Saturday night and Sunday morning

:29:57. > :30:01.should put the police I was horrified even though I knew the

:30:02. > :30:03.statistics because that afternoon I had been knocking on doors down one

:30:04. > :30:12.of our produced streets in Twickenham, I spoke to many people

:30:13. > :30:17.that Saturday. Yet that night I was in the police van because there had

:30:18. > :30:22.been a serious incident of domestic violence. And I didn't know how I

:30:23. > :30:26.spoken that afternoon to the victim? I spoken that afternoon to somebody

:30:27. > :30:31.who committed violence? Because there was absolutely no way I would

:30:32. > :30:33.have known that in that afternoon. What I've realised is that it is

:30:34. > :30:41.almost every street we knock on doors as MPs, we might be meeting

:30:42. > :30:45.somebody who is either a victim or perpetrator of that crime. In a

:30:46. > :30:53.moment, thank you. I'll so had a meeting in my constituency with

:30:54. > :30:59.police, with charities, with GLA, to speak about the situation in our

:31:00. > :31:03.area and what we can do and it was chilling to hear from one of the

:31:04. > :31:09.police officers when he said "For my borough we are more unsafe in our

:31:10. > :31:13.own homes then we are on the streets". I will give way. I thank

:31:14. > :31:17.the honourable lady forgiving way. And while it is totally recognised

:31:18. > :31:21.that women from poorer backgrounds will see more of these cases

:31:22. > :31:28.captured in the data, is it not the case that within the circles of

:31:29. > :31:33.society that are better off and more middle-class there is actually a

:31:34. > :31:37.greater pressure on women to not report and working as a doctor I met

:31:38. > :31:41.many patients, many women beaten below the neck so that it would not

:31:42. > :31:49.show and yet covered in bruises and still coming out with "It's my

:31:50. > :31:52.fault" I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have done that. We must

:31:53. > :31:58.not be misled to think this is not an issue among the better off. I

:31:59. > :32:06.think we'll find the data will show it is in country and every street,

:32:07. > :32:14.in every household. My concern for London is that in my area we are not

:32:15. > :32:19.aware of it going on in the homes because we are not hearing what is

:32:20. > :32:25.going on in our neighbour's comes as much. What I find in token, the good

:32:26. > :32:29.Samaritans are everywhere. If there has been a incident and thankfully a

:32:30. > :32:34.very rare incident of violence on the streets, immediately half a

:32:35. > :32:39.dozen people are there. If someone has had a fall or seizure or heart

:32:40. > :32:43.attack, the streets in Twickenham, it doesn't happen often but every

:32:44. > :32:47.time I've been there, half a dozen people immediately are there and

:32:48. > :32:51.what is amazing is when that has happened the next day someone will

:32:52. > :32:57.contact me because then I to track me down and asked me how was that

:32:58. > :32:59.person, is that personal right? We know in community the good

:33:00. > :33:06.Samaritans are looking out for each other but the good Samaritans, there

:33:07. > :33:08.aren't half a dozen people when domestic violence has happened in

:33:09. > :33:12.homes and that is where we need people to know in my area, all of

:33:13. > :33:31.the UK, the 24-hour helpline. 08082000247 People are reaching out.

:33:32. > :33:38.To ratify the convention we align with what is going on in our

:33:39. > :33:42.constituency at the ground level and about 60 years ago there were about

:33:43. > :33:56.60,000 women I believe who Martin Pretorius had that wonderful phrase

:33:57. > :34:03.meaning "You strike a woman, you strike of rock full to." I think our

:34:04. > :34:14.convention is the equivalent of that and this is the time I support this

:34:15. > :34:17.bill. Thank you, yesterday the culture secretary agreed to come

:34:18. > :34:20.back to the dispatch box where it is to be revealed that there was a

:34:21. > :34:27.further security breach at the national lottery. In the last few

:34:28. > :34:30.minutes the gambling commission have published a document where they say

:34:31. > :34:38.it was more likely than not that a fraudulent prize claim had been made

:34:39. > :34:45.and paid out. There is potentially a great lotto robbery. Cannot have

:34:46. > :34:50.been fined ?3 million and have been found in breach of their three

:34:51. > :34:53.pieces of their license. Can I ask if you've had and request from a

:34:54. > :34:58.minister to make an urgent statement to the house so they can guarantee

:34:59. > :35:05.to millions of lottery players in the UK that the game is safe. I'm

:35:06. > :35:08.grateful to the honourable gentleman first point of order. The short

:35:09. > :35:13.answer is no. I received no indication that the Minister has any

:35:14. > :35:19.plan to come to the chamber today. But I have known the honourable

:35:20. > :35:26.gentleman a long time. He is nothing if not persistent woodpecker. And

:35:27. > :35:32.that is a compliment. So my very strong point is that the honourable

:35:33. > :35:37.gentleman will be in his place on Monday and using such devices as are

:35:38. > :35:42.available to him to try and secure the presence of a minister to answer

:35:43. > :35:45.on this important matter. Meanwhile on this important matter. Meanwhile

:35:46. > :35:55.I hope the honourable gentleman has an enjoyable and moderately restful

:35:56. > :36:02.weekend. Jess Phillips. Thank you. I want to say a huge thank you to the

:36:03. > :36:09.member for Banff for bringing this debate today, this bill. It is long

:36:10. > :36:15.signing of the Istanbul convention signing of the Istanbul convention

:36:16. > :36:24.that we are here today to try and push Government to ratify. What I

:36:25. > :36:27.want to say, potentially uncharacteristically, I intend to

:36:28. > :36:31.say a few uncharacteristic things, is that I know how much the

:36:32. > :36:39.Government cares about this issue. Long before I was in this place I

:36:40. > :36:45.worked very closely with some of the Home Office officials, some of whom

:36:46. > :36:50.I know you today to work on these things. I have been working with the

:36:51. > :36:55.Home Office under the then Home Secretary now Prime Minister for

:36:56. > :37:01.years and I have never seen anything to lead me to believe that anything

:37:02. > :37:05.but commitment to improving legislation in the area of domestic

:37:06. > :37:09.violence and sexual violence. In practical terms, when things have to

:37:10. > :37:16.be delivered and that costs money and that falls to the DC LG, things

:37:17. > :37:23.did tend to break down but in legislative terms the Modern Slavery

:37:24. > :37:29.Bill, the act against coercive control, all of these things let me

:37:30. > :37:35.know that regardless of all of the things that divide us and, my gosh,

:37:36. > :37:40.I could speak, I could talk out of debate about how many things there

:37:41. > :37:50.are that divide us, but I like to sleep at night and was raised

:37:51. > :37:53.properly. So I will give way. And grateful to the honourable lady

:37:54. > :37:58.forgiving way. Males are on record my support for this and for what she

:37:59. > :38:02.is saying, but would she agrees is not just enough to pass legislation,

:38:03. > :38:07.but also to enforce it and that has also been somewhat lacking over the

:38:08. > :38:12.last few years? I agree entirely that enforcement. What we tend to do

:38:13. > :38:16.in this building is paved the way with great intentions and great

:38:17. > :38:22.legislation. We're some of the best legislation with bright to domestic

:38:23. > :38:27.violence in the world, however, but what we tend to do is open an

:38:28. > :38:32.enormous door into an empty room and it is very difficult for our police

:38:33. > :38:36.forces to enforce on certain issues. It is not because they don't have

:38:37. > :38:40.the legislative framework, it is for a series of other reasons and we all

:38:41. > :38:47.have to work together. Like yesterday and social care statement,

:38:48. > :38:54.in every conversation in this place about the NHS. We will just the work

:38:55. > :38:57.together to make this happen and in this moment of total pragmatism, the

:38:58. > :39:01.benches opposite do not take offence at what I'm about to say but I would

:39:02. > :39:09.dance with the Devil to make women and children safer. I would do

:39:10. > :39:12.anything. The reason I came to this building was to bang my fists on

:39:13. > :39:17.this side of the table because I got sick of banging them on the other.

:39:18. > :39:24.And I know that the Government care about this, I know that if perhaps

:39:25. > :39:26.they weren't distracted with other things, the ratification of the

:39:27. > :39:32.Istanbul convention probably would have passed really easily and what I

:39:33. > :39:39.would say to those on the benches opposite is that the stumbling

:39:40. > :39:42.blocks over compulsory PHS a and speaking to young people about

:39:43. > :39:49.consent and eradication of the Istanbul make a real threat to what

:39:50. > :39:53.is not a bad record in this area. It is a pretty good record and

:39:54. > :40:01.when we allocate funding it is a when we allocate funding it is a

:40:02. > :40:05.pretty good record. It needs a lot of work. Sorry. All the refugees are

:40:06. > :40:12.threatened and Magaz agency just now. I meant to say it was a bad

:40:13. > :40:18.record. If I wasn't here and hasn't got my seat I would be, today,

:40:19. > :40:23.surrounded by piles and piles of presents and gifts that would have

:40:24. > :40:31.been given by the local community to refuge. My desk used to become like

:40:32. > :40:35.a fort and we would have to have parties, actual parties, organised

:40:36. > :40:39.to get the presents wrapped in order to give out thousands and thousands

:40:40. > :40:40.of presents to the women and children who lived in refuge every

:40:41. > :40:46.children who lived in refuge every year.

:40:47. > :40:54.We would always throw a party and it would be, it might not seem like it,

:40:55. > :41:01.one of the happiest times of the year. One of the reasons it was so

:41:02. > :41:06.happy, no matter if you were the chief executive, if you were a

:41:07. > :41:09.cleaner in the refuge, one of the children in the refuge, everybody

:41:10. > :41:13.rolled up their sleeves to achieve something together. We would all

:41:14. > :41:17.make the sausage rolls, the women would be running in and out of their

:41:18. > :41:21.flats with different plates of food so we could all spend Christmas

:41:22. > :41:27.together knowing there is a huge amount of solidarity in the world

:41:28. > :41:33.for victims of domestic violence. And I know the Istanbul convention,

:41:34. > :41:38.one of the main underpinning of it, is the idea we all work together. Is

:41:39. > :41:44.that we need multiple agencies genuinely working together across

:41:45. > :41:56.the world to improve things for victims of domestic violence. No. It

:41:57. > :42:03.was worth thinking about, but I am sure the honourable gentleman is

:42:04. > :42:06.going to get his say. I want very much to stand here and say some

:42:07. > :42:11.funky as to the people who have meant that we are here today. Not

:42:12. > :42:19.only our colleagues from Scotland, who have done a fantastic job, and

:42:20. > :42:23.their usual en masse, all sat there together in their block. I would

:42:24. > :42:29.like to say some uncharacteristic thanks potentially to the Leader of

:42:30. > :42:34.the Opposition, who has certainly shown his commitment to this and

:42:35. > :42:40.work with us to make sure the Labour Party today will show its commitment

:42:41. > :42:46.to this and to Amy Watson specifically, in his office, it is

:42:47. > :42:50.always exciting in politics when you spend all day on the phone ringing

:42:51. > :42:55.round people to get them to a place. I would like to thank the unions who

:42:56. > :43:01.have been involved in trying to lobby members to be here today.

:43:02. > :43:09.Unison, I kept getting lobbying e-mails from the Muslim Council UK,

:43:10. > :43:11.also unison lobbied me. It is all down to the hard work of the women,

:43:12. > :43:26.the volunteer women from I See Change, with almost no

:43:27. > :43:31.resources, which shows how brilliant and powerful women can be. They can

:43:32. > :43:36.achieve pretty much anything when they put their minds to it. And

:43:37. > :43:41.everybody here today, on the last Friday before Christmas, is a

:43:42. > :43:45.would like to say a massive thank would like to say a massive thank

:43:46. > :43:52.you to them. What I will finish by saying is, all of us will wake up on

:43:53. > :43:56.Christmas morning and we will be stressed out, it is the only day

:43:57. > :44:04.when it is acceptable to drink from six o'clock in the morning! On

:44:05. > :44:09.holiday it is 12 o'clock, on Christmas it is six o'clock, it is

:44:10. > :44:13.the rule my family live by. We will all be stressed, wondering if we

:44:14. > :44:17.have got the right things and there will be a present that has gone

:44:18. > :44:23.missing and things will be more stressful, especially for the

:44:24. > :44:29.womenfolk of this world. Things are tens on Christmas Day. I ask

:44:30. > :44:32.everybody in here to imagine that tension isn't just because you are

:44:33. > :44:39.not sure whether you've got the right gifts for your family, or so

:44:40. > :44:41.and so will have a chair of the children's table will collapse like

:44:42. > :44:47.it did last year. Some people wake up on Christmas Day and they will

:44:48. > :44:51.try not to say anything wrong. They will try not to put a foot wrong and

:44:52. > :44:55.try and make sure everything is perfect. They will have risk

:44:56. > :45:00.assessed every step they take throughout the day because just this

:45:01. > :45:05.one day, their children deserve not to have the monster that lives in

:45:06. > :45:12.their home, erupted in their faces. Just this one day, their children

:45:13. > :45:19.deserve to have the peaceful day that all of our children have taken

:45:20. > :45:24.for granted. And so, all of the stresses we will feel, for those

:45:25. > :45:34.people will be terror and control over every single thing they say and

:45:35. > :45:41.do in order to keep things safe. If we ratify this convention, and if we

:45:42. > :45:53.send them a message today, that will be the greatest gift we could offer.

:45:54. > :46:00.It is a pleasure to speak on this Friday and take part in this debate

:46:01. > :46:04.and follow, I am tempted to say my honourable friend, I know I am not

:46:05. > :46:14.supposed to, but the honourable lady, the member for Birmingham who

:46:15. > :46:21.I know speaks with such passion and expertise on the area of domestic

:46:22. > :46:24.violence. I would like to congratulate the honourable member

:46:25. > :46:29.for Bamford for bringing forward this important bill today. I was

:46:30. > :46:34.lucky, I had put this date in my diary. I have a private members bill

:46:35. > :46:39.which is third on the list. I would like to see and hope as many people

:46:40. > :46:45.coming in to support mine. We will see how the day goes. That aside,

:46:46. > :46:51.this is a hugely important bill and it is a pleasure to be able to speak

:46:52. > :46:56.to it. It is an historic opportunity to tackle domestic abuse and

:46:57. > :47:00.violence against women and girls. It is a shame parliament wasn't sitting

:47:01. > :47:06.last Friday, which members here will know, it was the penalty but they 16

:47:07. > :47:09.days of activism following the elimination of violence against

:47:10. > :47:14.women and girls day. Bid would have been an even more appropriate day,

:47:15. > :47:19.if I could say that, but are determined by the day is the House

:47:20. > :47:23.is sitting. It is shocking that in this day and age, on average, two

:47:24. > :47:30.women are killed by their partner or ex-on every beginning and and Wales.

:47:31. > :47:36.27.1% have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16. Last year

:47:37. > :47:42.there were an estimated 4.5 million female victims of domestic abuse

:47:43. > :47:46.between the ages of 16 and 59. When I was preparing to speak today, it

:47:47. > :47:51.did make me reflect and think, I recalled a time as a child, my

:47:52. > :47:55.sister and I wear at home with my mum and there was a lady from the

:47:56. > :48:01.village who came and knocked on our door, who was trying to escape

:48:02. > :48:06.domestic violence. She spent the afternoon, her and her two boys in

:48:07. > :48:10.our House with my mum and my sister. The House of Commons is a strange

:48:11. > :48:14.place, but from time to time it does bring back memories and makes you

:48:15. > :48:21.reflect on your own experience and how you felt at the time. I know I

:48:22. > :48:26.have digressed a little bit, but the statistics I have referred to, they

:48:27. > :48:31.shocking. This isn't the whole picture. This largely hidden crime

:48:32. > :48:35.in many ways, is difficult to accurately quantify. Women, as we

:48:36. > :48:42.have heard, don't often are always report, disclosed occurrences of

:48:43. > :48:47.domestic abuse to the police for many reasons. If this bill is

:48:48. > :48:50.successful today, and I hope it will be, will require the government to

:48:51. > :48:54.ratify the Council of Europe Istanbul convention as soon as

:48:55. > :48:58.possible. In addition to the measures the government has put in

:48:59. > :49:01.place, including committing 80 million for violence against women

:49:02. > :49:06.and girls services, I believe this bill will help to end violence

:49:07. > :49:13.against women and girls. I want to turn briefly to the convention

:49:14. > :49:22.itself. Between 2006 and 2008, the Council of Europe campaign task

:49:23. > :49:24.force looking at violence against women concluded existing legislation

:49:25. > :49:27.to prevent and combat all kinds of violence against women, was not

:49:28. > :49:31.being enforced. Services the victims were scared and under forced and

:49:32. > :49:36.there was disparity between member states. This task force recommended

:49:37. > :49:40.the council user convention in preventing and combating violence,

:49:41. > :49:45.and this recommendation led to the drafting and publication of the

:49:46. > :49:49.Istanbul convention. I think it is only right we recognise the UK

:49:50. > :49:54.played a significant role in producing this, and on the 8th of

:49:55. > :49:59.June 2012, the UK coalition government signed the convention.

:50:00. > :50:05.Since signing that convention, the UK has made significant progress

:50:06. > :50:09.towards ratification. There has been legislation on forced marriage,

:50:10. > :50:15.female genital mutilation, coercive control, and most recently,

:50:16. > :50:19.stalking. In fact, in most respects, the measures already in place in the

:50:20. > :50:23.UK to protect women and girls comply with, or in some cases, go further

:50:24. > :50:29.than the Convention requires. It is the final amendments to domestic law

:50:30. > :50:32.to take out to the territorial jurisdiction over a range of

:50:33. > :50:37.offences has caused some delay in the ratification. I was pleased to

:50:38. > :50:42.read, and I hope the Minister will expand on this in his closing

:50:43. > :50:48.remarks, there has been contact with counterparts in the devolved

:50:49. > :50:52.administrations on who legislative changes should extend to Scotland

:50:53. > :50:55.and Northern Ireland. I am glad this bill has made it onto the floor of

:50:56. > :51:01.the House today. Allowing Parliament time to debate it and let us hope

:51:02. > :51:05.this leads to ratification and therefore giving all women and girls

:51:06. > :51:09.the legal guarantee for the right to live lives free from both violence

:51:10. > :51:16.and the fear of violence, that they deserve. This is such an important

:51:17. > :51:21.issue that one affects so many women. On the one hand you could

:51:22. > :51:25.argue why does it needs a Private members Bill to do something and we

:51:26. > :51:30.know the government has committed already to ratifying the convention,

:51:31. > :51:36.and has given many examples and Indic engines Billy McClure

:51:37. > :51:42.indications to go beyond the requirements of that. All that

:51:43. > :51:46.aside, this is an historic day and unimportant private members Bill and

:51:47. > :51:50.it is a chance for us all in this House to come together and show our

:51:51. > :51:56.support on what is such a very, very important issue. The best way to end

:51:57. > :52:00.via violence against women is to prevent it happening in the first

:52:01. > :52:05.place. Changing prejudices, attitudes and gender stereotypes.

:52:06. > :52:08.Whether this is through further training professionals and engineers

:52:09. > :52:13.to help people recognise and challenge forms of violence, prevent

:52:14. > :52:18.victimisation and emphasis on the need to cooperate with other

:52:19. > :52:22.agencies. I believe ensuring children are taught a quality at an

:52:23. > :52:27.early age is vital. Intervention and treatment programmes are working as

:52:28. > :52:31.well as they possibly can. I recall visiting a refuge a number of years

:52:32. > :52:37.ago in the North East. I was absolutely staggered to meet with

:52:38. > :52:42.some of the women and the children there. To gain a deeper

:52:43. > :52:47.understanding that domestic violence has no social boundaries, no age

:52:48. > :52:53.boundaries and sadly, it cuts right across all classes and all areas of

:52:54. > :52:56.society. For those women and girls who the preventative measures have

:52:57. > :53:01.failed and victims of violence, there has to be the best protection

:53:02. > :53:05.and support that could possibly be offered. Support and understanding

:53:06. > :53:09.from government agencies, the police and health services, many of whom do

:53:10. > :53:13.terrific work already. Specific measures include ensuring victims

:53:14. > :53:19.have access to adequate information and in a language they can

:53:20. > :53:24.understand, that shelters are established and inadequate

:53:25. > :53:27.geographical distribution and are easily accessible Rape Crisis and

:53:28. > :53:33.sexual violence centres are available to those who need them. I

:53:34. > :53:37.want to touch on the persecution, prosecution rather of perpetrators.

:53:38. > :53:42.One of the biggest achievements of the convention is the range of

:53:43. > :53:45.measures, procedures and best practices for investigating and

:53:46. > :53:52.prosecuting violence against women. The convention ensures victims

:53:53. > :53:55.should be protected at all stages of investigation, through emergency

:53:56. > :53:59.barring orders whether police can remove the perpetrator of domestic

:54:00. > :54:05.violence from the home and threw restraining and protection orders.

:54:06. > :54:07.These orders must be available immediately and allow subsequent

:54:08. > :54:10.legal proceedings and most importantly, issued without

:54:11. > :54:19.prejudicing the rights of defendants to a fair trial. Mr Speaker, I

:54:20. > :54:23.wanted to talk a little bit today about violence against women and

:54:24. > :54:28.girls abroad. Unfortunately, as we have heard, this is not an issue

:54:29. > :54:32.that is confined to the UK or to Europe. Through my work on the

:54:33. > :54:37.International Development Select Committee and as co-chair of the

:54:38. > :54:41.APPG on sustainable development goals, I have seen and heard

:54:42. > :54:46.examples of women and girls, not just the UK but throughout the

:54:47. > :54:50.world. Sexual violence is one of the characteristics of the ongoing

:54:51. > :54:57.insurgency in north-east Nigeria and earlier in the year, along with my

:54:58. > :55:01.colleague on the committee, the member for East Kilbride,

:55:02. > :55:13.Strathaven, I hope I have got that right... We met with campaigners

:55:14. > :55:17.from the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign who campaign and highlight

:55:18. > :55:25.the issues around the missing she got girls. It is 978 days since they

:55:26. > :55:28.were abducted and still there are 196 missing. This is a campaign that

:55:29. > :55:35.cannot be pushed to the sidelines. It is one of those moving events and

:55:36. > :55:42.certainly one of the most memorable, sadly, parts of the visit earlier in

:55:43. > :55:48.the year. Looking back at 2014, the then Foreign Secretary, hosted the

:55:49. > :55:57.first global summit to end sexual violence in conflict. With a special

:55:58. > :56:03.envoy. This was our largest gathering ever brought together with

:56:04. > :56:09.1700 delegates and 123 country delegations including 79 ministers.

:56:10. > :56:14.This summit included radical steps to tackle impunity for using rape as

:56:15. > :56:18.a weapon of war and beginning to change global attitudes to these

:56:19. > :56:21.crimes. Changing attitudes to these crimes and towards equality in

:56:22. > :56:29.general must surely be the best way violence against women that will be

:56:30. > :56:32.brought to an end. Similarly, the UK in 2005 successfully advocated for a

:56:33. > :56:38.stand-alone goal on gender equality as part of sustainable development

:56:39. > :56:41.goal and the establishment of dedicated targets within the goals

:56:42. > :56:45.for all countries for ending all forms of violence against women and

:56:46. > :56:49.girls. It is only with measures like this that we can hope to bring an

:56:50. > :56:57.end to the suffering of women worldwide. I do think that it's only

:56:58. > :57:00.fair to draw attention to some of the good work Government and the

:57:01. > :57:03.Pama International development is doing throughout the world to help

:57:04. > :57:10.end violence against women and girls. Running is accessible

:57:11. > :57:15.programme a number of them regarding FGM, this programme has helped 15

:57:16. > :57:20.countries have a policy framework for action plan to paint FGM. The

:57:21. > :57:23.Secretary of State for National development has Dems Jurjus her

:57:24. > :57:28.commitment to important work recently, committing 2.75 million to

:57:29. > :57:32.her UN trust fund to end violence begets Dimmock against women as

:57:33. > :57:35.supporting worldwide organisations to tackle gender based violence,

:57:36. > :57:41.ticking the Kepler total contribution to ?11 million. They

:57:42. > :57:46.are global and universal and it is right and proper that we recognise

:57:47. > :57:51.that today I feel in this important date. And recognise there is still a

:57:52. > :57:55.long way to go but lots of workers or been done with regards to it and

:57:56. > :58:02.achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls. Turning

:58:03. > :58:10.back to the reason we are all here today and I'm conscious I'm been

:58:11. > :58:15.hopefully indulgent of your time, I'm looking at the clock, last year

:58:16. > :58:19.there were over 100,000 prosecutions for domestic abuse. The fact that

:58:20. > :58:25.more victims are having the confidence to come forward and

:58:26. > :58:30.report violence shows, I hope, we are moving in the right direction.

:58:31. > :58:32.and ratifying the Istanbul and ratifying the Istanbul

:58:33. > :58:39.convention is one way of achieving that. I close by ending with

:58:40. > :58:43.recognition of the work of the Government has done already in line

:58:44. > :58:48.with the Istanbul convention and I believe they should be applauded. I

:58:49. > :58:53.will support the bill today to help ensure violence against women.

:58:54. > :59:03.Violence against a woman centred because she is a woman becomes a

:59:04. > :59:07.thing of the past. Thank you. I intend to try and be relatively

:59:08. > :59:11.brief this morning. I start by congratulating my honourable friend

:59:12. > :59:17.force during this very important private members debate and for the

:59:18. > :59:20.consensus she has built to look to drive this forward which will

:59:21. > :59:28.hopefully by the end of today see this bill moving forward to the next

:59:29. > :59:33.stage. Very early in my own election campaign of 2015 this issue was

:59:34. > :59:38.brought to me by a number of campaigners in Midlothian it was

:59:39. > :59:41.even raised as a question and one of the hustings that took place in that

:59:42. > :59:47.campaign. Luckily by that point I had at least a limited grasp of what

:59:48. > :59:51.the Istanbul convention was, sadly not all of those on the panel that

:59:52. > :59:56.night did. I think the journey we've taken even since that point and the

:59:57. > :59:59.awareness that has been raised across countless members by the

:00:00. > :00:05.tireless campaigners already mentioned through my honourable

:00:06. > :00:08.friend shows the real strength of feeling and I think of genuine

:00:09. > :00:13.changing and attitude we are starting to see coming through but

:00:14. > :00:20.we must do more, which is why it is so important we see the passing of

:00:21. > :00:23.this bill today and in my own constituency made and it is lovely

:00:24. > :00:28.and pleasant woman boss McKay to have been campaigning on this issue

:00:29. > :00:32.for a number of years have told me they see the ratification of the

:00:33. > :00:36.Istanbul convention as the most commented strategy for addressing

:00:37. > :00:40.violence against women and girls and therefore an opportunity to bring

:00:41. > :00:48.unprecedented positive change for women and girls. I think we can all

:00:49. > :00:53.agree we need to do more. I wanted to perhaps in my brief contribution

:00:54. > :00:56.here look to some of the other issues we see around this and

:00:57. > :01:01.actually, the role that we as men can play in trying to address and

:01:02. > :01:05.change attitudes because we all want to see an end to violence against

:01:06. > :01:10.women but it is that attitudinal change and actually, when we seems,

:01:11. > :01:15.nation and some of the comments we see online being made, I think there

:01:16. > :01:19.is a very important role for all of us, perhaps especially the men

:01:20. > :01:23.amongst us, to challenge the attitudes of other men when we see

:01:24. > :01:28.that type of abuse taking place online and I have to say, in this

:01:29. > :01:33.point I would pay particular praise my honourable friend from

:01:34. > :01:41.Renfrewshire North who is doing a huge amount of work in tackling this

:01:42. > :01:48.in a number of different avenues. I'm sure we will hear from you

:01:49. > :01:54.honourable friend shortly. But I cannot let this session pass without

:01:55. > :01:58.putting on record my and I'm sure my colleagues' feelings for support

:01:59. > :02:02.forward he is doing. Such an important role. We have a

:02:03. > :02:08.opportunity to leaders in our own communities, to change the abbot

:02:09. > :02:12.shoes that are attitudes and dig at standard change the best reserve we

:02:13. > :02:15.can influence young people today and change their attitude before it's

:02:16. > :02:22.too late then we can really get that shift change in attitude that will

:02:23. > :02:27.eventually see us taking the steps to eradicate violence against women.

:02:28. > :02:31.There is no need for any violence against women to take place. We need

:02:32. > :02:35.to everything we possibly can to stamp it out at every opportunity

:02:36. > :02:40.and to not stand by and watch, whether it be violence or simply an

:02:41. > :02:43.offensive comment online. All of us have a responsibility to make a

:02:44. > :02:49.stand and do what we can to make sure you make these changes and in

:02:50. > :02:57.doing so I think if it has to first step today in supporting this bill.

:02:58. > :03:02.-- a fantastic first step. Can I commend the honourable lady for

:03:03. > :03:11.bringing forward this particular bill and also typically for the

:03:12. > :03:17.excellent speech she made. She is one of the best performers in the

:03:18. > :03:24.House of Commons in my opinion and further enhanced reputation with her

:03:25. > :03:27.speech today. This is a bill to require the UK to ratify the Council

:03:28. > :03:32.of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against

:03:33. > :03:39.women. And domestic violence. The stand-up convention and for

:03:40. > :03:43.connected purposes. I don't expect to find much support in this house

:03:44. > :03:48.for some of what I want to put on the record today, although that is

:03:49. > :03:52.normal in my experience. I is that many people outside of this house

:03:53. > :03:56.are more likely to agree and we only have to look at the EU referendum to

:03:57. > :04:03.see how out of touch this house is with the majority opinion across the

:04:04. > :04:11.country. This is a typical Friday bill if I might be able to say that.

:04:12. > :04:15.It is basically coming was a worthy sentiment, who can possibly be

:04:16. > :04:18.against trying to stop violence against women? Nobly I'm aware of,

:04:19. > :04:24.I'm not aware of anyone who wants to argue that people should be violent

:04:25. > :04:31.towards women and girls. Because the title of the bill has about

:04:32. > :04:34.combating violence against women then as long as you support that

:04:35. > :04:39.perished there it is presumed you must support this particular bill.

:04:40. > :04:45.Therefore if you oppose this billion must be in favour as it follows of

:04:46. > :04:50.violence against women and children. That is the kind of level of debate

:04:51. > :04:55.I would expect from the morons on Twitter but I still live in hope

:04:56. > :04:59.that we might actually have better quality debate than that in this

:05:00. > :05:04.house, although my experience is it doesn't actually get much better

:05:05. > :05:07.normally. I live in hope and hope we can have a sensible debate about

:05:08. > :05:15.these matters rather than the level of debate that we get used to on

:05:16. > :05:17.social media. I have a fundamental objection to the premise we only

:05:18. > :05:29.need to deal with violence against women. I can't... No. It was worth

:05:30. > :05:33.thinking about for a few seconds. I'm sure the honourable lady would

:05:34. > :05:43.appreciate it. If she comes back later on my well -- I may well

:05:44. > :05:46.oblige her. I've really do appreciate the tone he is taking in

:05:47. > :05:51.recognising the seriousness but I would point out to him that there

:05:52. > :05:56.are two parts to the title, combating violence against women and

:05:57. > :06:00.domestic violence, it doesn't say if the domestic violence is against

:06:01. > :06:04.men, women or children. I'm grateful to the honourable lady for

:06:05. > :06:07.highlighting that but I'm going to come onto that because I she rightly

:06:08. > :06:11.said an outright in the -- illustrate are two separate elements

:06:12. > :06:17.to this and I want to do both of them justice if I may. I can't

:06:18. > :06:22.really believe this needs saying, to be honest, but I think it is so

:06:23. > :06:27.discriminatory and sexist. To say we should all be focusing on violence

:06:28. > :06:33.against women. And if this was the other way around there would be an

:06:34. > :06:42.absolute outcry from people in this house, and rightly so. I don't take

:06:43. > :06:46.the view that violence against women and girls is somehow worse than

:06:47. > :06:55.violence against men and boys. As far as I'm concerned, all violence

:06:56. > :06:59.is unacceptable and all violence against a person should be punished

:07:00. > :07:08.by law. Both men and women are victims and both are perpetrators of

:07:09. > :07:13.these crimes. I believe in true equality and want people to be

:07:14. > :07:18.treated equally as victims and perpetrators of crimes. He is making

:07:19. > :07:21.a characteristic of passionate speech but you would not want to

:07:22. > :07:26.acknowledge that over the last 20 years half of the victims of murder

:07:27. > :07:30.are women from family members, only 6% of males who have been murdered

:07:31. > :07:34.from family members. It is a significant discrepancy that must be

:07:35. > :07:38.acknowledged in this house. I will come onto the discrepancy between

:07:39. > :07:44.male and female, the levels of violence against men and the levels

:07:45. > :07:49.of violence against women intercourse if I made because it is

:07:50. > :07:53.a point that is very much worth highlighting. I believe in true

:07:54. > :07:58.equality and want people to be treated equally, at the moment

:07:59. > :08:00.whether people like it or not, men are treated more harshly than women

:08:01. > :08:04.in the criminal justice system, certainly when it comes to

:08:05. > :08:07.sentencing, and another at an inconvenient truth for many people

:08:08. > :08:10.but it is the truth about them ayes nevertheless. On top of that, this

:08:11. > :08:16.is where it released my friend's point, all the evidence shows that

:08:17. > :08:24.men are more likely to be a victim of violent crime than women in this

:08:25. > :08:27.country. I thank him for his graciousness, genuinely. I think

:08:28. > :08:31.when he studied speaking he said that to say you not supporting this

:08:32. > :08:36.bill doesn't mean you support violence against women is right to

:08:37. > :08:39.say it is not a 0-sum game but also I wonder if he agrees with me that

:08:40. > :08:45.wanting a bill that would support women doesn't mean you don't want

:08:46. > :08:50.one that supports men. There is no use of the word only in this bill

:08:51. > :08:58.and if he wishes to bring a bill about violence against men I will

:08:59. > :09:02.gladly co-sponsored with him. I'm grateful to the honourable lady

:09:03. > :09:08.opposite, perhaps we can go back to the drawing board with this

:09:09. > :09:12.particular bill we wanted but which targets men and women alike and we

:09:13. > :09:15.go back to the drawing board and did -- introduce such a bill and would

:09:16. > :09:20.be delighted both of us will be able to support it. I give way. If he

:09:21. > :09:23.will allow me to be a bit from Istanbul convention which I did

:09:24. > :09:27.allude to in my speech, it says here that measures to protect the rights

:09:28. > :09:32.of victims shall be secured without discrimination on any grounds such

:09:33. > :09:36.as sex, gender, race, colour, rather languid, religion, political or

:09:37. > :09:40.other opinion, national or social origin, as addition national

:09:41. > :09:45.minority, property breath, sexual orientation, gender identity, age,

:09:46. > :09:48.state of health, disability, marital status or other status. That is in

:09:49. > :09:55.article four clause three of the Istanbul convention. In grateful to

:09:56. > :09:58.the honourable lady and we can go back to the drawing board and bring

:09:59. > :10:04.back a bill that all of us can support because nothing I've heard

:10:05. > :10:12.from any of the speakers so far, I think we've had four speeches so

:10:13. > :10:15.far, one passing reference to men and the entire thrust of this debate

:10:16. > :10:21.and argument and the point of this bill today was simply about the

:10:22. > :10:25.acceptability of violence against women, is we've heard so far. It is

:10:26. > :10:28.no good attending to redraw the nature of the debate because I am

:10:29. > :10:31.raising the point about true equality. If that is what people who

:10:32. > :10:34.really believe in this house, let's go back to the drawing board and

:10:35. > :10:55.bring back a bill that makes that clear on the face of the bill.

:10:56. > :11:02.Article two is the relevant article because it sets out what the scope

:11:03. > :11:08.of the convention is. Paragraph one clearly states this convention shall

:11:09. > :11:15.apply to all forms of violence against women. My honourable friend

:11:16. > :11:21.is absolutely right and I will also come on to article one, which makes

:11:22. > :11:25.it clear discriminating against men is fine, as far as the convention is

:11:26. > :11:30.concerned. I will come onto that later in my speech which will fly in

:11:31. > :11:36.the face of the speech the honourable lady opposite gave. We

:11:37. > :11:41.all seem to be in agreement from what I have heard so far, we can go

:11:42. > :11:47.back to the drawing board and bring a bill through that we all agree

:11:48. > :11:50.with. In view of the fact the government has signalled it will

:11:51. > :11:53.ratify this convention, does my honourable friend not want the

:11:54. > :12:01.government to ratify this convention? I am against this and

:12:02. > :12:05.I'm trying to set out the reasons. What I want them to do is ratify

:12:06. > :12:11.something that targets all violence. I will come onto that in a second

:12:12. > :12:16.and I will test out, during the course of my speech, honourable

:12:17. > :12:27.members' commitment to stamping out violence whether it be by men... I

:12:28. > :12:32.will give way. Izzy arguing there is no point doing something that is a

:12:33. > :12:36.good thing unless it solves all the problems of the world? If my

:12:37. > :12:39.honourable friend is happy for a convention to make it explicitly

:12:40. > :12:48.clear it is fine to discriminate against men... I know lots of people

:12:49. > :12:52.are up in arms, I suspect most of them haven't even bothered to read

:12:53. > :12:58.the different articles in the convention. If they want to,

:12:59. > :13:03.off-the-cuff, repeat to me back Article one of the convention in

:13:04. > :13:07.full... No, I didn't think they could, they are just up in arms

:13:08. > :13:12.because of what I said at the start of my speech. It seems like a worthy

:13:13. > :13:19.sentiments so we must support it. They have no substance. It they want

:13:20. > :13:25.to discuss all but difficult nuances of this convention, I am sure you

:13:26. > :13:30.will humour them but there is not much substance from the hollering,

:13:31. > :13:34.as usual from our SNP colleagues. I will explain why I think this should

:13:35. > :13:40.not be passed today and should not be ratified. I am trying to make it

:13:41. > :13:47.clear I believe in true quality, rather than this kind of a quality

:13:48. > :13:51.that only applies to one gender. My premise is, all the evidence shows

:13:52. > :13:57.men are more likely to be victims of violent crime in this country than

:13:58. > :14:08.women. I just want to quote... I will give way. I am sure he is aware

:14:09. > :14:13.I think it is two women a week are killed and I don't think if he has

:14:14. > :14:17.ever gone to a funeral of a woman who has been killed and seeing the

:14:18. > :14:23.children there. I can assure him, I have and it is a very uncomfortable

:14:24. > :14:27.experience. There are also funerals of men who have died and that is

:14:28. > :14:31.just as uncomfortable for their children as well. I am sucked the

:14:32. > :14:36.honourable lady doesn't recognise that when a father dies it is just

:14:37. > :14:42.as upsetting for the children as when the mother dies. I will give

:14:43. > :14:47.way. When he gives that crime statistic, is he trying to say all

:14:48. > :14:53.those men have been made victims of crime because they are men? What

:14:54. > :14:56.this bill is about is combating violence against women that is

:14:57. > :15:01.committed precisely because they are women. That is not the case with the

:15:02. > :15:06.vast majority of the crimes he is talking about in those statistics.

:15:07. > :15:09.The honourable gentleman is going down and interesting route by

:15:10. > :15:14.basically saying no matter what the injuries you sustain in a violent

:15:15. > :15:19.attack, all we should be concerned about is what the motivation of that

:15:20. > :15:23.attack was. If the motivation isn't as what the honourable gentleman

:15:24. > :15:28.things, that is very low. If somebody comes up to you because

:15:29. > :15:32.they hate you and beat you up, it seems to me the actual nuance of why

:15:33. > :15:36.they hate you is less important than the scale of the injury you have

:15:37. > :15:40.suffered and the need for that person who perpetrated the crime to

:15:41. > :15:45.be punished. He clearly has a different opinion than me. I am more

:15:46. > :15:48.interested in the violence and the punishment of the perpetrator who

:15:49. > :15:55.commits that violence. If I might be allowed... I will give way. In the

:15:56. > :16:01.preamble to this convention, there is a reference to the Geneva

:16:02. > :16:03.Convention of 1949. The Geneva Convention is gender neutral,

:16:04. > :16:10.despite the fact that probably most of the victims of breaches of the

:16:11. > :16:13.Geneva Convention are actually meant. My honourable friend makes a

:16:14. > :16:18.valid point. Perhaps if we follow the logic of today's debate, the

:16:19. > :16:23.Geneva Convention should only apply to men, because they were much more

:16:24. > :16:27.likely to be the subject of what was intended at the time. That would be

:16:28. > :16:31.an answer is, I'm my honourable friend thinks it is an nonsense. It

:16:32. > :16:37.is amazing when it falls on the other side, everyone is silent about

:16:38. > :16:46.that particular issue. This is the hypocrisy I want to expose today. I

:16:47. > :16:50.am going to press on and expose it. To highlight the fact most men are

:16:51. > :16:53.likely to be the victims of a violent crime I will quote the

:16:54. > :16:59.recent statistic on the representation on females and males

:17:00. > :17:02.in the criminal justice system. They confirm men are twice as likely to

:17:03. > :17:07.be the victim of violent crime than women. According to the crime survey

:17:08. > :17:11.of England and Wales, 1.3% of women interviewed were reported to be

:17:12. > :17:18.victims of violence, compared with 2.4% of men. My point also applies

:17:19. > :17:25.to children. Again, according to the crime survey for England and Wales,

:17:26. > :17:33.in 2015, 16 a smaller proportion of girls than boys reported being

:17:34. > :17:37.victims of violence. 4.2% of girls versus 4.72% of boys. It is not just

:17:38. > :17:41.violence generally when men do worse. When it comes to the most

:17:42. > :17:49.serious of cases, according to the crime survey of England and Wales,

:17:50. > :17:56.in 2015, 16, women accounted for 36% of recorded homicide victims while

:17:57. > :18:00.men were victims in 64% of cases. Clearly, on every possible level of

:18:01. > :18:05.victims of crime, a man is more likely to be the victim of it than a

:18:06. > :18:11.woman. Men are also, we haven't heard much of it today, men are also

:18:12. > :18:19.victims of domestic violence. It is right to thirds of domestic violence

:18:20. > :18:24.incidents, the women is the victim, which is absolutely outrageous. But,

:18:25. > :18:29.in a third of cases, the victim is a man. It may be some people in this

:18:30. > :18:33.House think the people we should only be concerned about are the two

:18:34. > :18:35.thirds who are women. I don't, we should be concerned about all

:18:36. > :18:41.victims of domestic violence equally. All of them are victim of

:18:42. > :18:44.domestic violence and we should consider them equally when we look

:18:45. > :18:51.as a response to it, not just the two thirds that happen to be women.

:18:52. > :18:56.According to the Office for National Statistics report, which is a focus

:18:57. > :19:02.on violent crime and sexual offences which relates to the year ending

:19:03. > :19:07.2015, the crime survey of England and Wales estimates 2.8% of women

:19:08. > :19:10.and 4% of men reported experience any type of domestic abuse in the

:19:11. > :19:17.last year and that is all forms of abuse. This is the equivalent of an

:19:18. > :19:23.estimated 1.3 million female victims and 600,000 male victims. All of

:19:24. > :19:30.whom, in my opinion, equally deserve our support. They also confirm

:19:31. > :19:35.specifically for partner abuse, 6.5% of women and 2.8% of men reported

:19:36. > :19:38.having experienced any type of partner abuse in the last year,

:19:39. > :19:45.equivalent to an estimated 1.3 million female victims and 500,000

:19:46. > :19:48.male victims. This bill refers to preventing and combating violence

:19:49. > :19:53.against women and domestic violence. Whilst the first part is relatively

:19:54. > :19:57.clear, the second bit about domestic violence is not so. This is because

:19:58. > :20:02.of the definition of domestic violence. Our definition of domestic

:20:03. > :20:05.violence including nonviolent components, so we need to be careful

:20:06. > :20:10.when banding around figures about domestic violence. This is

:20:11. > :20:15.inevitably the problem with a wide definition. It has the word violence

:20:16. > :20:19.in the title on people understandably assume it relates to

:20:20. > :20:24.physical violence, but this is not always necessarily the case and back

:20:25. > :20:27.can be quite confusing. We also need to remember domestic incidents

:20:28. > :20:29.include people in relationships as well as families and other

:20:30. > :20:35.relationships that could be considered domestic in nature. What

:20:36. > :20:40.I'm trying to say, the notion in every case of domestic violence or

:20:41. > :20:45.abuse, the perpetrator is a big, burly wife-beater is that, and

:20:46. > :20:49.ocean, but it is not actually factual. I asked the House of

:20:50. > :20:52.Commons library for some information on what is known as the Istanbul

:20:53. > :21:00.convention, which this bill seeks to ratify. They said it is a council to

:21:01. > :21:04.prevent violence against women and domestic violence. It was adopted by

:21:05. > :21:13.the Council of Europe on the Council of Europe on the 2011 and was open

:21:14. > :21:19.to signature on the 121st session at the committee of ministers. The UK

:21:20. > :21:25.signed the Convention on the 8th of June 2012, but has not yet ratified

:21:26. > :21:28.it. Some countries have signed the convention, like the UK and some

:21:29. > :21:33.have signed the convention and ratified it as well. I won't go

:21:34. > :21:38.through all the countries and give their positions on it, although it

:21:39. > :21:46.is very illuminating and relevant to the debate, but I don't want to test

:21:47. > :21:51.the patience of the House. But some of the countries who have signed the

:21:52. > :22:01.convention but not ratified it like us, we heard sedan mentioned as an

:22:02. > :22:06.illustration. As my honourable friend highlighted, Germany haven't

:22:07. > :22:10.ratified it, neither have Iceland 's, Greece, Lithuania, Croatia and

:22:11. > :22:17.Cyprus. All of those members of the European Union, Mr Deputy Speaker,

:22:18. > :22:21.which is such a fine institution the members of the SNP are desperate for

:22:22. > :22:25.us to remain part of it but they're wonderful partner countries have

:22:26. > :22:32.ratified it, but there was no mention of that either in the

:22:33. > :22:36.honourable lady's speech. It is interesting to know I learned only

:22:37. > :22:40.signed the Convention on the 5th of November 2015 and they too haven't

:22:41. > :22:44.yet ratified it. Perhaps the honourable member for Foyle might

:22:45. > :22:48.want to have a word with his friends in the Irish Republic to ask them

:22:49. > :22:58.why they have not ratified it either. Article one of the

:22:59. > :23:02.convention says its purpose is to help the honourable members at the

:23:03. > :23:06.SNP who were up in arms about something they hadn't bothered to

:23:07. > :23:12.read. But I can tell them what it says in article one of the

:23:13. > :23:16.convention. It says there are five purposes. The first is to protect

:23:17. > :23:19.women against all forms of violence and prevent prosecution and

:23:20. > :23:25.eliminate violence against women and domestic violence. The second is to

:23:26. > :23:28.contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against

:23:29. > :23:33.women and promote substantive equality between women and men,

:23:34. > :23:38.including by empowering men. The third is to design a framework,

:23:39. > :23:42.policies and measures for the protection of and assistance to all

:23:43. > :23:48.victims of violence and women and domestic violence. The board is to

:23:49. > :23:53.promote international cooperation and fifth, to provide support and

:23:54. > :23:55.assistance to organisations and law enforcement agencies to effectively

:23:56. > :23:59.cooperate in order to adopt and integrated approach to eliminate

:24:00. > :24:06.violence against women and domestic violence. We look at the first

:24:07. > :24:12.point, we are united in our position against any violence against women

:24:13. > :24:17.and girls. I want to make this clear so nobody has misunderstood in the

:24:18. > :24:22.terms of this debate, we are all united in our opposition to any

:24:23. > :24:27.violence against women and girls. I would be astounded if any of us were

:24:28. > :24:31.not. Yet I pride myself on being known as one of the most hard-line

:24:32. > :24:36.members when it comes to matters of law and order and sentencing. I

:24:37. > :24:39.always find it strange that those who speak passionately about how we

:24:40. > :24:44.should have zero tolerance on violence against women and girls and

:24:45. > :24:50.violence against people, which I agree with, are often the same

:24:51. > :24:55.people who then argue the perpetrators of violence should do

:24:56. > :25:01.anything but be sent to prison. We are in a ridiculous situation... Yes

:25:02. > :25:06.I will. I thank the honourable member for giving way. He has

:25:07. > :25:12.helpfully laid out some of the objects of the Istanbul convention.

:25:13. > :25:15.Could he explain as what he sees as the downside of ratifying the East

:25:16. > :25:21.stumble convention and all it could do to achieve a greater focus and

:25:22. > :25:28.energy on the prevention of violence against women and girls and also

:25:29. > :25:31.those who will be victims, whether they are male or female,

:25:32. > :25:39.particularly when we're looking at the scale and nature of domestic

:25:40. > :25:42.violence? My hope is by the time I have finished speaking, the

:25:43. > :25:50.honourable lady will be much wiser as to why I oppose this particular

:25:51. > :25:55.bill. Yes of course. Can I suggest one answer to the intervention? Our

:25:56. > :25:57.own legislation in this country has a broader definition of domestic

:25:58. > :26:03.violence than the definition contained in this convention. My

:26:04. > :26:08.honourable friend is right. As I made it clear, our definition of

:26:09. > :26:12.domestic violence is very different to that definition used in most

:26:13. > :26:16.other countries. My honourable friend makes a very good point.

:26:17. > :26:19.There are other reasons which I will come onto and Article one contains

:26:20. > :26:24.within it, something I fundamentally disagree with.

:26:25. > :26:28.We are in a ridiculous situation where people convicted of Crown

:26:29. > :26:33.Court of violence against a person in England and Wales we have a

:26:34. > :26:39.situation where city 6% of men convicted of a violence against a

:26:40. > :26:42.person sent to prison -- 66% of men compared to 36% of women are sent to

:26:43. > :26:45.prison for the same offences. If we really want to send out a message,

:26:46. > :26:49.and I think that was what the purpose of this bill was, I heard a

:26:50. > :26:52.number of occasions from members opposite comment we really want to

:26:53. > :26:57.send out a message of zero tolerance about violence against a person, the

:26:58. > :27:01.first thing we ought to do and perhaps the main thing, maybe the

:27:02. > :27:06.only thing we ought to do, is praise for much tougher sentences for

:27:07. > :27:13.people found guilty of it. What are the ways of preventing and managing

:27:14. > :27:15.violence? It is send them to prison for longer because Welton prison

:27:16. > :27:20.they will not perpetrate any balance against anyone else in their

:27:21. > :27:23.household or anywhere else. -- any violence. The Labour Party, who

:27:24. > :27:30.apparently are so concerned about this issue of violence against women

:27:31. > :27:33.and violence against girls actually introduce a law in the last

:27:34. > :27:37.parliament whereby someone who is sent to prison for committing

:27:38. > :27:41.violence against a woman, for committing balance against a girl,

:27:42. > :27:46.has to be, by a long, released halfway through their prison

:27:47. > :27:48.sentence whether or not it is considered they will go straight

:27:49. > :27:51.back into the household from where they came and commit the same crime

:27:52. > :27:55.again. They still have to be released halfway through their

:27:56. > :27:58.sentence by the law of the land and the last Labour Government

:27:59. > :28:02.introduced that doesn't it is no good saying how committed they are

:28:03. > :28:05.stopping violence against women and girls when they are the ones who are

:28:06. > :28:09.largely people back out onto the streets and back into their houses

:28:10. > :28:12.that sooner than the courts originally intended. If people want

:28:13. > :28:16.to do something worthwhile to prevent violence against the people

:28:17. > :28:20.and violence against women and girls let's all pray for stronger prison

:28:21. > :28:24.sentences, Asfordby borders and -- spent more of their sentence in

:28:25. > :28:31.prison. How many people are up for that in the house today? They all go

:28:32. > :28:35.amazingly quiet because they don't really but when it comes down to do

:28:36. > :28:38.want a half and half about being tough on violence against women and

:28:39. > :28:42.girls but when it comes down to the actual thing that most of our

:28:43. > :28:46.constituents would recognise would show being tough on violence against

:28:47. > :28:48.women and girls and tougher prison sentences, they all run away because

:28:49. > :28:54.they don't like people being sent to prison. I'm grateful, I think my

:28:55. > :28:56.honourable friend is making a valid point but does he not feel there

:28:57. > :29:03.might be some correlation between the fact that the figures for

:29:04. > :29:07.violent crime are increasing and the fact that as my honourable friend

:29:08. > :29:12.just pointed out, criminals know they'll be let out halfway through

:29:13. > :29:15.their sentence. My honourable friend is right, this is not rocket

:29:16. > :29:18.science, the more criminals in prison, the less criminals out on

:29:19. > :29:21.the streets committing crimes. It is not really massively difficult

:29:22. > :29:26.concept to grasp. Although it appears to be, the members opposite

:29:27. > :29:29.are struggling. It is not that difficult understand that if people

:29:30. > :29:32.who commit these crimes are in prison they cannot be committing

:29:33. > :29:37.those crimes. My honourable friend must therefore surely be right in

:29:38. > :29:43.his suspicion. This convention does not cover violence as article be

:29:44. > :29:51.mentions. This is one of the things I have a fundamental problem with in

:29:52. > :29:54.this particular convention. One be says it wants to see the elimination

:29:55. > :30:01.of all forms of discrimination against women. Yet I do not see how

:30:02. > :30:06.introducing a specific duty to eliminate all forms of

:30:07. > :30:10.discrimination against just women, I don't see how that is not the a

:30:11. > :30:15.victory itself. I suppose we should people could see the irony of the

:30:16. > :30:20.Apostles. Surely will wish you just want a low rate of four is of

:30:21. > :30:25.discrimination. He is in effect saying article one B is that if it

:30:26. > :30:28.is discrimination against a man it is OK because we want to do is end

:30:29. > :30:36.this commission against women. It isn't OK. No discrimination is OK.

:30:37. > :30:40.So if this convention starts again and says what we want to do is end

:30:41. > :30:45.all forms of discrimination I will be the first to support it. It does

:30:46. > :30:51.not say that, it says all discover nation against women only. That

:30:52. > :30:54.surely come on people in this house cannot support that form of

:30:55. > :30:57.discrimination in itself was the butterflies in the face of

:30:58. > :31:02.everything that we are supposed to believe in if we believe in true

:31:03. > :31:09.equality. Then we have the phrase "Including by empowering women". I'm

:31:10. > :31:13.not entirely sure, this is obviously a legal document, not sure with the

:31:14. > :31:19.legal definition of that is supposed to be. We have some very respected

:31:20. > :31:22.people of the law in the chamber today, perhaps they might be able to

:31:23. > :31:26.help us out with what the legal definitions are, I genuinely don't

:31:27. > :31:31.know and I will bow to other people bus makes superior knowledge. The

:31:32. > :31:35.English dictionary definition is as proving qualities that to give up

:31:36. > :31:37.personal group of people to give people more control of their lives

:31:38. > :31:41.and become stronger and more independent. We are all active that

:31:42. > :31:45.I would like to think. What is most concerning to me is that this whole

:31:46. > :31:51.strategy seems to be based on the premise that all this violence

:31:52. > :31:54.against women is committed by men. Otherwise why else would it be

:31:55. > :31:59.linking discrimination, stereotyping and violence together. Certainly

:32:00. > :32:04.these are the thoughts of many people supporting this convention

:32:05. > :32:10.and the bill today. The impression people might be the perpetrators of

:32:11. > :32:15.these crimes are men, indeed on the website of one of the campaign

:32:16. > :32:20.cosmic endorsing this bill today at a rally women were holding placards

:32:21. > :32:25.with the slogan together we can end male violence against women. So it

:32:26. > :32:30.would seem they are not interested in ending violence regardless of

:32:31. > :32:32.whether victim is male or female, or even permit would seem, they're

:32:33. > :32:37.interested in ending violence against women. Because despite what

:32:38. > :32:42.people want to believe all violence against women is not only cost by

:32:43. > :32:46.men. Indeed there is no evidence to support the underlying assumption to

:32:47. > :32:49.this is in a letter I received from the Crown Prosecution Service of

:32:50. > :32:53.this issue, they said to me we are unable to provide information on

:32:54. > :32:57.your specific requests of the sex of both the defendant and the victim

:32:58. > :33:04.because we record the sex of the defendant and a victim as separate

:33:05. > :33:07.statistics rather than other joint statistic so the premise of the bill

:33:08. > :33:11.is based on an assumption and one that can quickly be proved wrong. We

:33:12. > :33:16.only have to look at the individual cases that come to our ports to see

:33:17. > :33:21.there are plenty of cases where violence has been committed by a

:33:22. > :33:28.female offender to a female victim. Let me give a flavour of those cases

:33:29. > :33:32.I refer to. How about the case of semi-written a PDA, who stabbed her

:33:33. > :33:38.two young doctors to death in a refuge in November last year. She

:33:39. > :33:41.had been placed in a refuge with the girls after she called the police to

:33:42. > :33:47.their house claiming her partner had been violent. Speaking about her

:33:48. > :33:52.relationship with the father, the judge said "You reacted to this very

:33:53. > :33:56.difficult situation by saying "If I cannot have them, the children,

:33:57. > :33:59.neither can he". This is a crime that speaks of rage and are you on

:34:00. > :34:03.the basis that you killed them in anger and out of a desire for

:34:04. > :34:09.revenge. A jury of six men and six women found guilty of murder after

:34:10. > :34:15.only 90 minutes of deliberation. What about the case of Sadie Morris,

:34:16. > :34:17.female paedophile? Was sentenced to five years in jail after

:34:18. > :34:25.photographing herself abusing a three-year-old girl. If -- the

:34:26. > :34:29.offences took place in July 2013 the photographs involving one category a

:34:30. > :34:35.image, the most serious level, one B and one C. Or even the case of a

:34:36. > :34:37.Romanian sex gang led by women who are trafficked vulnerable women into

:34:38. > :34:44.Britain and forced them into prostitution. The gang raised more

:34:45. > :34:48.than ?15,000 month and forced the prostitutes to deposit the cash cost

:34:49. > :34:50.14 separate bank accounts. Ending male violence against women would

:34:51. > :34:56.not have prevented any of these cases as the offenders were all so

:34:57. > :34:59.female. Crime does not come and eight, Mr Deputy Speaker, and we

:35:00. > :35:03.have to get real and instead of speaking of female victims of male

:35:04. > :35:10.perpetrators we should speak of all victims regardless of sex and all

:35:11. > :35:13.offenders regardless of sex. What is difficult about that? Why do so many

:35:14. > :35:17.people in this house find so difficult to do? There are many

:35:18. > :35:23.female perpetrators of violence against both men and women,

:35:24. > :35:26.according to official Ministry of Justice figures. In their report on

:35:27. > :35:30.statistics on women and the criminal justice system 2015, violence

:35:31. > :35:33.against the person and theft were consistently the two offence grips

:35:34. > :35:39.with the highest or of arrests for both females and males. In fact,

:35:40. > :35:46.people may not know this, but violence against the person account

:35:47. > :35:50.for 34% of all male arrests and it is accounted for 36% of female

:35:51. > :35:55.arrests in the current justice system, we haven't heard any of that

:35:56. > :36:00.in the speeches so far today! While theft offence is made up 21% of male

:36:01. > :36:04.arrests and 26% of female arrests, again, that is not restricted to

:36:05. > :36:10.women but also applies to girls. In 2015-16 valves at -- of violence

:36:11. > :36:14.against the person was the most common offence group for which

:36:15. > :36:20.juvenile females were arrested, 10-17 -year-olds, 40% of arrests of

:36:21. > :36:25.girls aged 10-17 was for violence against the person. People shaking

:36:26. > :36:28.their heads, these are the official statistics. It might be

:36:29. > :36:31.inconvenient, I'm not surprised the lady hasn't heard about it, you

:36:32. > :36:35.never hear any of this because we are so blinkered and only want to

:36:36. > :36:40.look one-dimensional lake at all of those issues. I'm not surprised it's

:36:41. > :36:44.come as a shock to people opposite. Reports such as the one of Katie

:36:45. > :36:50.Nield, 27-year-old woman of two was rushed to hospital after a woman bit

:36:51. > :36:54.her and ripped a chunk out of her face indicate this. This has left

:36:55. > :36:56.the bit that meant beating with permanent scarring even after being

:36:57. > :37:04.rushed to hospital for an emergency skin graft or even a chase at my

:37:05. > :37:09.local court. That's the case of a female who burgle a 79-year-old

:37:10. > :37:12.woman's house in August last year. In her defence the defendant's

:37:13. > :37:15.barrister claimed she would be extreme the vulnerable in prison

:37:16. > :37:18.with a baby due in less than three months. Despite her love being

:37:19. > :37:26.pregnant at the time of the burglary. However, Judge Thomas says

:37:27. > :37:30.he is -- is a duty was to the pensioner whose life was so

:37:31. > :37:32.significant effect it has a significantly affected yet not left

:37:33. > :37:36.her home. This is just a flavour of the vast array of cases where female

:37:37. > :37:44.offenders target female victims and so the discriminatory underlay of

:37:45. > :37:47.today's Bill is pointless and wrong because not all victims are female

:37:48. > :37:51.and not all offenders are male. We should bring forward neutral

:37:52. > :37:58.legislation that seeks to help all victims of crime, men and women and

:37:59. > :38:02.to punish all offenders, both men and women. Even in cases where

:38:03. > :38:08.people measure violence is male or female this is not the case such as

:38:09. > :38:13.domestic violence. I honourable friend has been referring to

:38:14. > :38:17.statistics from the UK, he may be aware of the fundamental rights

:38:18. > :38:21.agency of the EU which issued a very big report on violence against

:38:22. > :38:27.women, an EU wide survey and in that survey they found that 11% of

:38:28. > :38:29.non-heterosexual women in Europe have experienced physical or sexual

:38:30. > :38:34.violence at the hands of other women. I'm literally coming on to

:38:35. > :38:41.that very point because the figures it seems worse than that in the UK

:38:42. > :38:48.but I am grateful to my honourable friend to alerting me to that fact

:38:49. > :38:55.which I was unaware of. I'll give me -- give which I honourable friend.

:38:56. > :39:02.Is he saying that if this bill was gender neutral he would support it?

:39:03. > :39:06.I'm very much saying that, that is the thrust of my point. Absolutely

:39:07. > :39:10.would support this if this were a gender neutral Bill and it clearly

:39:11. > :39:13.is not. You only have to read the convention to see that isn't the

:39:14. > :39:17.case and heard the speeches we've heard so far today to realise this

:39:18. > :39:23.is nothing to do with gender neutrality. In 2008 Stonewall found

:39:24. > :39:30.that one in for lesbian and bisexual women have experienced domestic

:39:31. > :39:36.violence in a relationship with 49.3% of bisexual women experiencing

:39:37. > :39:39.severe physical intimate violence and every Saint report on statistics

:39:40. > :39:45.of women in a coma justice system 2050 on the issue of abuse during

:39:46. > :39:48.childhood and physical abuse the perpetrator of physical abuse

:39:49. > :39:55.against females was almost as likely equally to be the mother as the

:39:56. > :40:01.father. 33% and 36% respectively. This is not as clear-cut as

:40:02. > :40:08.individuals would have people want us to glean but this bill supports

:40:09. > :40:12.the narrative that they want to keep speaking about, if there is no

:40:13. > :40:15.relations -- it bears no religion to the facts but held the narrative

:40:16. > :40:20.they want people to run away with and at some point some of us

:40:21. > :40:23.actually have to say, no, we are not perish to allow these distortions to

:40:24. > :40:26.continue, we will argue what the actual facts are, not what people

:40:27. > :40:30.want them to be. If people don't want to listen to me which I

:40:31. > :40:37.understand often they don't because I say things they don't want to

:40:38. > :40:38.hear, perhaps they might have more sympathy for a marvellous lady

:40:39. > :40:54.called Erin Bezy. Rpetrator Specifically dealing with

:40:55. > :40:59.victims of domestic violence so perhaps she has the credentials I am

:41:00. > :41:02.not afforded the luxury of being granted a hearing, maybe because of

:41:03. > :41:07.her background she will be. She went to the United States at the

:41:08. > :41:13.invitation of the US Government, and embarked on a Salvation Army

:41:14. > :41:16.response sported tour help set us shelters for victims of domestic

:41:17. > :41:22.violence, she did the same in Italy and returned to England in 1997 and

:41:23. > :41:25.more recently in March 2007 she opened the first Arab refuge for

:41:26. > :41:29.victims of domestic violence in Bahrain. I hope people may listen to

:41:30. > :41:38.Erin Pizzey if they won't listen to me. This is what she said. She said

:41:39. > :41:44.on a press release on international day for the elimination of violence

:41:45. > :41:48.for women. She said like everybody else who reads this statement, I am

:41:49. > :41:55.of course totally in favour of the ehim fashion of violence towards

:41:56. > :41:58.women. But unlike the instigators I believe we should be eliminating

:41:59. > :42:04.violence against everyone, that includes men and children. I applaud

:42:05. > :42:08.the efforts of Vivian ring the Vice President and commissioner

:42:09. > :42:12.responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenships, the

:42:13. > :42:16.Secretary-General of European women's lobby and the chair of

:42:17. > :42:20.Parliamentary women's rights and gender quality commission, but I am

:42:21. > :42:24.puzzled as to why this enormous empire of women work the huge self

:42:25. > :42:28.important titles manage to avoid discussion of the effects of

:42:29. > :42:34.violence upon the family, fathers and children, if we have any hope of

:42:35. > :42:38.tackling the tragic events we have to face the fact women can and are

:42:39. > :42:43.also guilty of violence against their partners. To concentrate of

:42:44. > :42:46.women as victim, is to deny the fact that children are also abused by

:42:47. > :42:50.their mothers, we can no longer afford to cover up the huge scandal

:42:51. > :42:55.that existed for the last 40 years where only men have been held up as

:42:56. > :42:58.persons of all violence. My hope is that sufficient political pressure

:42:59. > :43:03.will be brought to bear upon these women, who sit in positions of

:43:04. > :43:08.power, to acknowledge we do indeed need to make November 25th a day

:43:09. > :43:11.when we agree there should be zero tolerance for violence against

:43:12. > :43:14.anyone, and that we will work to make the family a safe and

:43:15. > :43:20.harmonious place. I think that that is something that we should listen

:43:21. > :43:25.very carefully to o indeed. That sums up my view on this particular

:43:26. > :43:29.issue, and that, as I say, -- say is a woman ho has more credentials than

:43:30. > :43:36.many people in this place, having set up the first women's refuge. In

:43:37. > :43:40.response to a Parliamentary question, asked by the honourable

:43:41. > :43:43.member for Paisley, the Government said it remain committed to

:43:44. > :43:47.ratifying the convention and set out what more needs to be done. The

:43:48. > :43:50.previous Government signalled the Istanbul convention to show the

:43:51. > :43:53.strong commitment it plays on tackling violence against women and

:43:54. > :43:59.girls and this Government, they said, remains committed to ratted

:44:00. > :44:04.fewing it. At the UK complies with the vast majority of the articles

:44:05. > :44:09.but further amendments to come to stick law to take jurisdiction over

:44:10. > :44:13.a range of offence, as required by article 444, are necessary before

:44:14. > :44:18.the convention can be ratified. We are currently considering, they say,

:44:19. > :44:23.the approach to implements the requirements in England and Wales,

:44:24. > :44:27.and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary

:44:28. > :44:33.time allow, accuse coring to the House of Commons library article 44

:44:34. > :44:39.the Government place great weight on referred to there, states that

:44:40. > :44:42.parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to

:44:43. > :44:47.establish jurisdiction over any offence established when the offence

:44:48. > :44:52.is committed. In their territory, or onboard a ship flying their flag, or

:44:53. > :44:58.onboard an aircraft registered under their laws or by one of their

:44:59. > :45:03.nationals, or by a person who has her or his resident in their

:45:04. > :45:07.territory. Two, says that parties shall endeavour to take the

:45:08. > :45:10.necessary or other measures to establish jurisdiction over any

:45:11. > :45:13.offence established in accordance with this convention where the

:45:14. > :45:19.offences committed against one of their nationals or a person who has

:45:20. > :45:23.his or her residence in their territory, for the prosecution of

:45:24. > :45:28.the offences established in accordance with articles 36, 37, 38,

:45:29. > :45:32.and 39, parties shall take the necessary legislative or other

:45:33. > :45:35.measures to ensure their jurisdiction is not sobrd Nated to

:45:36. > :45:40.the condition the acts are criminalised in the territory where

:45:41. > :45:45.they were committed, for the prosecution of the offence as

:45:46. > :45:49.established in accordance with the articles 36-39 parties shall take

:45:50. > :45:53.the necessary measures to ensure their jurisdiction as regards points

:45:54. > :45:57.D and E is not subordinated to the condition that the prosecution could

:45:58. > :46:05.only be initiated following the reporting by the victim of the

:46:06. > :46:09.offence, or where the offence was committed. Parties shall take the

:46:10. > :46:13.necessary measures to establish jurisdiction over the offences

:46:14. > :46:16.established in accordance with this convention in cases where an alleged

:46:17. > :46:20.perpetrator is present, or their territory and they do not extradite

:46:21. > :46:25.her or him to another party, solely on the basis of his or her

:46:26. > :46:31.nationality. And then when one more than one party claims juries Dick

:46:32. > :46:34.should be over an alleged offence, the parties involved shall where

:46:35. > :46:37.appropriate cult each other with a view to determining the most

:46:38. > :46:41.appropriate determination for prosecution. And this convention

:46:42. > :46:45.does not exclude any criminal just Dirkion exercised by a party in

:46:46. > :46:50.accordance with its internal law. This is why article 44, why the

:46:51. > :46:55.Government seem to be dragging their... Will he give way on that

:46:56. > :46:58.point. I am grateful to my honourable friend for putting that

:46:59. > :47:03.on the record, I think it is worthwhile noting that the relevant

:47:04. > :47:11.articles there, that were referred to, articles 36, 37, 38, and 39, to

:47:12. > :47:17.follow on, make reference to sexual violence, including rape, article

:47:18. > :47:22.36, article 37 forced marriage, 38, female genital mutilation and

:47:23. > :47:27.article 39 forced abortion and forcedsterlisation. My honourable

:47:28. > :47:32.friend is right to highlight what the articles were, I was probably

:47:33. > :47:36.remiss in not mentioned then when I was going through them. This is what

:47:37. > :47:41.the Government are hanging their hat on, it seems in their response, so

:47:42. > :47:46.perhaps the minister will be able to explain more about article 44 and

:47:47. > :47:50.the difficulties that the Government are experiencing, with regard to

:47:51. > :47:56.article 44, and no doubt with reference to the four articles that

:47:57. > :48:05.refer to in it that my honourable friend mentioned. Will my honourable

:48:06. > :48:10.friend expand on to how article 44 links in with article 77. Under

:48:11. > :48:16.article 77 a party ratifying this convention is able to specify which

:48:17. > :48:20.territories it applies to. Well, he makes a very good point, and the

:48:21. > :48:26.answer to his question is I am not sure I can. I think it is a thorny

:48:27. > :48:31.issue. Now, my right honourable friend has a great advantage over me

:48:32. > :48:35.in not only is he experienced in legal matter, which I certainly am

:48:36. > :48:42.not, but he also was for many years a member of the Council of Europe,

:48:43. > :48:47.so, I hope, I hope we may be able to hear from that expertise later on,

:48:48. > :48:54.he may in passing be able to answer his own question in a way I am not

:48:55. > :49:00.able to do. The honourable member for Paisley tabled an EDM on this

:49:01. > :49:05.subject. That this House notes that the 8th June 2016 marks the 4th

:49:06. > :49:09.anniversary of the Government becoming a signatory to the Istanbul

:49:10. > :49:12.convention. Expresses disappointment that the Government, despite

:49:13. > :49:16.outlining their commitment to do so has failed to ratify this

:49:17. > :49:20.convention, recognises that women still face a significant amount of

:49:21. > :49:26.inequality, with one in four women experiencing some form of domestic,

:49:27. > :49:30.abuse, further notes that ratifying the convention should ensure that a

:49:31. > :49:35.series of preventative policies will be introduced to tackle and end vie

:49:36. > :49:45.glens women, such as non-violent conflict resolution and the right to

:49:46. > :49:49.personal integrity included in the curriculum, and cause the Government

:49:50. > :49:53.to aside to this pressure and ratification as soon as possible.

:49:54. > :49:58.There is a few interesting things to note on that Early Day Motion. The

:49:59. > :50:04.first is that when I last looked, there were 47 signatories to that

:50:05. > :50:07.EDM, so, despite the fact that the honourable lady's contention was

:50:08. > :50:11.thaw the House was unanimous in its support for this, it doesn't seem to

:50:12. > :50:16.have found its way into finding support there, there, but again the

:50:17. > :50:21.despite their attempts now and what I would call backtracking, to try

:50:22. > :50:25.and start saying they care about vie glens men as well, which they didn't

:50:26. > :50:29.offer up in the earlier speeches we listenedtor, the EDM lets the cat

:50:30. > :50:33.out of the bag, they don't care about it, there isn't a mention of

:50:34. > :50:37.violence against men, it is about violence against women. Let us not

:50:38. > :50:41.pretend that this is about a gender neutrality, it is not. The people

:50:42. > :50:48.opposite know it is not. Let us not try and pretend it is something it

:50:49. > :50:52.is not. There is actually an awful lot to the convention Mr Deputy

:50:53. > :50:57.Speaker and far more than I intend to go through today, I am sure you

:50:58. > :51:01.will be relieved to now. Even though I am sure I was in order to go

:51:02. > :51:06.through, I want to hear from other people too. As this bill seeks to

:51:07. > :51:11.ensure the ratification of the convention, it is all very relevant,

:51:12. > :51:15.I am not going go thrall of it. I want to put on the record some of

:51:16. > :51:21.the very key facts in this convention as I see them. Now the

:51:22. > :51:26.Council of Europe's website sets out the position. They say that in

:51:27. > :51:30.simple terms preventing violence against women and domestic violence

:51:31. > :51:32.can save lives and reduce human suffering and Governments that agree

:51:33. > :51:37.to be bound by the convention will have to do the following. These are

:51:38. > :51:48.with 23 Council of Europe say is what happen has to be done. Trained

:51:49. > :51:52.professional, run awareness raising campaign, take steps in teaching

:51:53. > :51:57.material, set up treatment problems for perpetrators of domestic

:51:58. > :52:03.violence and for sex offenders, work closely with NGO, involve the media

:52:04. > :52:08.in eradicating gender stereotypes and promoting mutual respect. I

:52:09. > :52:12.don't know what the last thing mean, it seems like media censorship to

:52:13. > :52:15.me. Preventing violence against women and domestic violence should

:52:16. > :52:21.not be left to the state alone, they say. In fact the convention calls on

:52:22. > :52:25.all members of society, in particular, men and boys. To the

:52:26. > :52:28.reach its goal of creating a Europe free from all forms of violence

:52:29. > :52:33.against women. And domestic violence. Violence against women is

:52:34. > :52:39.pervasive because attitudes towards whimper cyst, each and every one can

:52:40. > :52:42.help challenge gender stereotypes. Harmful practises and

:52:43. > :52:45.discrimination. It is only by achieving real gender equality that

:52:46. > :52:50.violence against women can be prevented. Question can -- we can

:52:51. > :52:56.see this convention goes way beyond trying to combat violence against

:52:57. > :53:01.women, it has a much wider remit, than people would have us believe.

:53:02. > :53:04.They go on to say when pre-Trentive measures have failed and violence

:53:05. > :53:08.has happened it is important to provide victims with protection and

:53:09. > :53:13.support, this means police intervention and protection as well

:53:14. > :53:18.as specialised support services such a shelters, telephone hotlines.

:53:19. > :53:22.Means making sure Social Services understand the realities and

:53:23. > :53:24.concerns of victims and violence against women and support them

:53:25. > :53:29.accordingly in their quest to rebuild their lives. Here is some

:53:30. > :53:33.examples, of measures set forth in the convention. Granting the police

:53:34. > :53:36.the power to remove a perpetrator of domestic violence from his or her

:53:37. > :53:41.home. In situation of immediate danger the police need to be able to

:53:42. > :53:44.guarantee the safety of the victim. This may meaned orering the

:53:45. > :53:49.perpetrator for a period of time to leave the family home and to stay

:53:50. > :53:55.away from the victim. Ensuring access to adequate information,

:53:56. > :54:00.victims are usually traumatised and need easy access to information in

:54:01. > :54:05.language they understand. Setting up easily accessible Shetlanders in

:54:06. > :54:09.sufficient numbers, and in an adequate geographical distribution,

:54:10. > :54:12.victims come from a wide range of social reality, women from rural

:54:13. > :54:18.areas or disabled women need to have access to shelters as much as women

:54:19. > :54:23.from big cities not even a mention was of a male victim of domestic

:54:24. > :54:27.violence, I will come on to that in a second, about the supply of

:54:28. > :54:32.refuges, for men and women. Because that is very important, to see how

:54:33. > :54:38.the Government's fulfilling that particular point. Make it available

:54:39. > :54:44.state-wide telephone helplines flee of charge. Special Liz helplines for

:54:45. > :54:49.victims can direct the victims to the services they need. Setting up

:54:50. > :54:54.easily accessible Rape Crisis or sexual violence referral centres,

:54:55. > :54:57.these provide immediate medical counciling, trauma care and forensic

:54:58. > :55:00.services and are rare across Europe, they should be made more widely

:55:01. > :55:06.available. It should be born in mind it is not enough to set up services

:55:07. > :55:12.for victims the, it is quali important to make sure victims are

:55:13. > :55:15.informed of their rights and where to get help: I agree Vic tells

:55:16. > :55:22.should be better protected and have more of a voice in the justice

:55:23. > :55:27.system -- victims. As far as I am concerned that applies to male

:55:28. > :55:32.victims as much as female victim, when it comes to come to stick

:55:33. > :55:37.violence, it is mall victims who have the least support, not female

:55:38. > :55:47.one, according to the Office for National Statistics, reports on

:55:48. > :55:52.violent crime ending March 2015, it said overall 27.1% of women and

:55:53. > :55:59.13.2% of men had experienced any domestic abuse into the age of 16,

:56:00. > :56:02.equivalent on the an estimated 4.5 million female victim, and 2.2 male

:56:03. > :56:25.victim, shocking figures. For every three victims of domestic

:56:26. > :56:31.abuse, two will be female, one will be male. Despite his 2/3 and one

:56:32. > :56:38.third split when it comes to victims, which we all must be agreed

:56:39. > :56:41.on, they are the official figures, nobody has argued with those

:56:42. > :56:45.figures. When it comes to victims, there is absolutely no funding split

:56:46. > :56:49.and perhaps the Minister will be able to explain when he comes to

:56:50. > :56:57.speak why there is no similar funding split. According to the

:56:58. > :57:03.mankind initiative, 20 organisations offer refuge or safe house provision

:57:04. > :57:07.for male victims in the UK, a total of 82 spaces in those 20

:57:08. > :57:17.organisations, of which the entire country 24 spaces are dedicated to

:57:18. > :57:23.male domestic victims only. The rest are for victims of either gender.

:57:24. > :57:27.But only 82 are ones that men could possibly get a chance on and only

:57:28. > :57:34.24-hour guarantee for men in the entire country. For female victims

:57:35. > :57:37.there is nearly 400 specialist domestic violence organisations

:57:38. > :57:47.providing refuge accommodation for women in the UK with 4000 spaces for

:57:48. > :57:52.over 7000 women and children. Two thirds of victims of domestic

:57:53. > :58:06.violence are women and a third are men, 7000 places in refuges for

:58:07. > :58:10.women, 82 maximum for men. How can that possibly be gender neutral and

:58:11. > :58:13.fair? I generally want to know why people think that can possibly be

:58:14. > :58:18.fair if we are genuinely interested in being gender neutral? Of course

:58:19. > :58:23.we know, maybe but I'm not interested in being gender neutral.

:58:24. > :58:29.It is interesting that male victims are much less likely to come forward

:58:30. > :58:34.and female victims which again suggests it is male victims who need

:58:35. > :58:38.more encouragement. Again, according to the mankind initiative, male

:58:39. > :58:43.victims, 29% over twice as likely than was in come and 12%, to not

:58:44. > :58:47.tell anyone about the partner abuse there are suffering from and only

:58:48. > :58:52.10% of male victims will tell the police arrest 26% of women victims

:58:53. > :58:58.will tell the police, only 23% will tell a person in official position

:58:59. > :59:05.compared to 43% of women and only 11% will tell a health professional

:59:06. > :59:09.compares to 23% of women. Further to this, when discussing abuse in

:59:10. > :59:15.childhood, in the recent MOD reports statistics on women and the criminal

:59:16. > :59:19.justice system 2015 it states that for sexual abuse 12% of female

:59:20. > :59:24.victims and 25% of males told someone they knew personally

:59:25. > :59:28.approached out of sexual assault by red or penetration, including

:59:29. > :59:33.attempts at the time, usually a family member. Only 10% of female

:59:34. > :59:39.victims told someone in official position with 8% porting the abuse

:59:40. > :59:45.to the police, only 2% of male victims reported the abuse to the

:59:46. > :59:52.police so well sexual abuse is an enormous issue amongst girls, with

:59:53. > :59:57.only 30 and a victims telling anyone at all, it is also an issue amongst

:59:58. > :00:02.boys that is being massively underreported with only 20% of -- 27

:00:03. > :00:09.but had a victims telling anyone of which only 2% of cases are the

:00:10. > :00:12.police. The convention bars Macris Convention on the prosecution of

:00:13. > :00:17.perpetrators as interesting as well. On this the Council of Europe says

:00:18. > :00:20.that the convention defines and criminalises the various forms of

:00:21. > :00:24.violence against women as well as domestic violence. This is one of

:00:25. > :00:28.the many achievements of the convention to give effect to the

:00:29. > :00:32.convention, state parties will have to introduce a number of new

:00:33. > :00:36.offences where they do not exist, these may include psychological and

:00:37. > :00:42.physical violence, sexual violence and rape, stalking, female genital

:00:43. > :00:46.mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion and forced sterilisation.

:00:47. > :00:54.In addition the state parties must ensure that so-called honour are

:00:55. > :01:00.not... Are not sure how we deal with the psychological violence point.

:01:01. > :01:07.But most of these offences can have male victims as well, not female

:01:08. > :01:15.genital mutilation, obviously. And male circumcision is still

:01:16. > :01:25.considered to be legal. In case of a forced abortion, which on phase of

:01:26. > :01:28.it is a female issue. It's is envisaged that the father of victim

:01:29. > :01:30.of a lost thousands of a lost child abuse the woman is not the one to

:01:31. > :01:35.suffer in that situation. According to figures obtained by mankind are

:01:36. > :01:43.those that suffered partner abuse in 2014-15 in higher proportion of men

:01:44. > :01:46.suffered from forced 37% and women. 29% for emotional and psychological

:01:47. > :01:57.abuse the proportions were six to 1% and 63% respectively. Mostly that in

:01:58. > :02:02.the cinema of male victims of psychological abuse as female

:02:03. > :02:05.victims. Further to this the recent MOD report state on the issue of

:02:06. > :02:09.psychological abuse of children of those who experienced psychological

:02:10. > :02:15.abuse as a child, the perpetrator was more likely to have been the

:02:16. > :02:19.victim's mother, 40%, than the father, 35%. Women were more likely

:02:20. > :02:25.to have experienced this form of abuse from their mothers, 42%,

:02:26. > :02:28.grandfathers, 33% whereas men were equally likely to be abused by

:02:29. > :02:34.either parent. The matter of actual violence and injury is an

:02:35. > :02:41.interesting point as well. All those that suffered from partner abuse in

:02:42. > :02:45.2012-13, 29% of men and 23% of women suffered a physical injury. A higher

:02:46. > :02:51.proportion of men suffered severe bruising or bleeding, 6%, and

:02:52. > :02:58.internal injuries or broken bones of teeth, 2%, than women. 4% and 1%

:02:59. > :03:03.respectively. 30% of men who suffered partner abuse have

:03:04. > :03:09.emotional and mental problems. The figure for that is 47% for women and

:03:10. > :03:12.only 27% of men sought medical advice plus 73% of women did. Yet

:03:13. > :03:16.this bill would ensure the ratification of the convention which

:03:17. > :03:22.does nothing to address the domestic violence against men, just women. I

:03:23. > :03:27.want to briefly mention the other offences that might on the face of

:03:28. > :03:30.it seemed only apply to women. Government figures show that one in

:03:31. > :03:39.every five victims of forced marriage is a man, 18% in 2013 to

:03:40. > :03:45.234 cases of forced marriage in the UK where the victim was a man and on

:03:46. > :03:56.stalking which many will no doubt assume involves a man stalking a

:03:57. > :04:03.woman. 2.4% of men and 4.9% of women in 2014-15 experienced stalking. For

:04:04. > :04:08.every three victims of stalking, two are women and one is a man and the

:04:09. > :04:10.Council of Europe says once these new offences have found their way

:04:11. > :04:14.into the national legal systems there is no reason not to prosecute

:04:15. > :04:17.offenders and on the contrary, state parties will have to take a range of

:04:18. > :04:22.measures to assure the effective investigation of any alleged

:04:23. > :04:27.allegation of violence against women and domestic violence. State parties

:04:28. > :04:29.will have to take a range of motion is to ensure the effective

:04:30. > :04:37.investigation of any alleged allegation of violence against

:04:38. > :04:42.women, but have to take any thing to ensure it violence against men, it

:04:43. > :04:45.doesn't matter, it seems to me by their own words this means the law

:04:46. > :04:49.enforcement agencies will have to respond to calls for help, collect

:04:50. > :04:53.evidence and assess the risk of further violence to adequately

:04:54. > :04:56.protect the victim. Furthermore, state parties will have to carry a

:04:57. > :05:00.judicial proceedings in a manner that respects the rights of victims

:05:01. > :05:06.at all stages and that avoid secondary victimisation. In February

:05:07. > :05:11.2015 the joint committee on human rights published a report on UK's

:05:12. > :05:18.progress towards ratification of the convention. This was the report

:05:19. > :05:24.violence against women and girls, again, nothing to do with men and

:05:25. > :05:30.boys. I don't know about anyone else but if somebody's son in this house

:05:31. > :05:33.is the victim of violence, why would they consider that to be less

:05:34. > :05:38.important than if their daughter was a victim of violence? I would like

:05:39. > :05:41.to hear the honourable members explain why they think violence

:05:42. > :05:45.against their son would be less important, perhaps we might hear

:05:46. > :05:51.that by some people later on. Their report was violence against women

:05:52. > :05:53.and girls. In February... And glad I'm educating the honourable

:05:54. > :05:55.gentleman because he certainly knew nothing about the article one of the

:05:56. > :06:02.convention before I highlighted it to him. Chapter eight of their

:06:03. > :06:06.report looked at ratification and began by setting out what others had

:06:07. > :06:11.said on ratification. The international committee has called

:06:12. > :06:15.on the Government to do more to address violence against women and

:06:16. > :06:17.girls within the UK, again, violence against women and girls from the

:06:18. > :06:24.Giggleswick International leadership is weak and bites fairly that the

:06:25. > :06:27.fight against violence against women and girls in its own borders. There

:06:28. > :06:29.is evidence as well as the Government is taking good walk

:06:30. > :06:35.abroad regarding violence against women and girls, more must be done

:06:36. > :06:40.in the UK. We have a hypocrisy about human rights he said! We speak about

:06:41. > :06:43.human rights internationally for others and if we had a common

:06:44. > :06:48.discourse in this happens here too we might be able to have a more

:06:49. > :06:51.constructive conversation about it. The bar human rights committee of

:06:52. > :06:56.England and Wales said ratification would emphasise the state as a

:06:57. > :07:00.positive duty Inglot intervene in a proactive way to modify practices

:07:01. > :07:04.that result in harm, violence, degradation to women and girls. It

:07:05. > :07:07.will provide a further basis in law for that those who wish to persuade

:07:08. > :07:11.the state to provide adequate and meaningful resources to construct an

:07:12. > :07:16.effective mechanism to protect women from gender violence and harm. This

:07:17. > :07:21.is not gender neutral, how can anyone argue this convention is

:07:22. > :07:23.gender neutral. There is no gender neutral language anywhere in this

:07:24. > :07:29.convention for anyone to read and the report set out the background of

:07:30. > :07:35.the Government's position which I don't want to go through in... I

:07:36. > :07:39.know you were saying he wanted to make sure members to get, we have a

:07:40. > :07:45.very long list of speakers and I will want you to keep that in mind.

:07:46. > :07:52.I appreciate that but there are certain things I say that nobody

:07:53. > :08:06.else can be trusted to say. Laughter mac -- Le Keirin -- LAUGHING if we

:08:07. > :08:11.could depend on other people to say these things I would leave that to

:08:12. > :08:16.them. That is part of the debate we may become Turkey gives way. Thank

:08:17. > :08:21.you, I take that on board. Others will not, not me not, I can assure

:08:22. > :08:29.you. You make a good point. In which case I think what I will do...

:08:30. > :08:33.LAUGHING yellow mac which I think you would approve of, rather than me

:08:34. > :08:35.setting out the background to the Governor's position perhaps I will

:08:36. > :08:44.leave that to the Minister to set out the Government's position. I

:08:45. > :08:47.would like to think the Minister has been suitably embarrassed about

:08:48. > :08:53.setting up the Government's position so far but I'm looking forward to

:08:54. > :08:58.hearing it anyway. I'm sure we will get the chance. It is worth noting

:08:59. > :09:01.that in the brief inequality human rights commission acknowledge that

:09:02. > :09:05.most of the Istanbul convention obligations are implemented through

:09:06. > :09:11.UK legislation with recent steps being taken on many areas. So, for

:09:12. > :09:16.example, a prohibition on possession of rape pornography was introduced

:09:17. > :09:25.by section 37 of the criminal Justice and Courts act 2015, is

:09:26. > :09:28.placed England and Wales and brings that more in line with that

:09:29. > :09:33.applicable in Scotland. And new offence of control or compulsive

:09:34. > :09:40.behaviour in intimate from manual Russian ships was introduced in

:09:41. > :09:44.section 76 in 2015 and forced marriage is provided for in section

:09:45. > :09:50.121 and one to two of the anti-social behaviour crime and

:09:51. > :09:55.police act 2014 and the female genital nutrition act 2003 was

:09:56. > :09:59.amended by section 73 of the serious crime act 2015 to include FGM

:10:00. > :10:02.protection orders and that is a civil measure that can be applied

:10:03. > :10:07.for through a family court and provides a means of protecting

:10:08. > :10:12.actual or potential victims of FGM. I had an e-mail from the Muslim

:10:13. > :10:18.Council of Britain supporting this bill, they quoted the UN Secretary

:10:19. > :10:21.General Ban Ki-Moon saying of violence against women continues to

:10:22. > :10:24.persist as one of the Watine is systematic and prevalent human

:10:25. > :10:29.rights abuses in the world, it is a threat to all women and an

:10:30. > :10:32.opposition to all our efforts for development in all societies, let

:10:33. > :10:38.take this issue with the deadly seriousness it deserves.

:10:39. > :10:45.I sometimes think I must be speaking in somewhat hisly, but this would

:10:46. > :10:49.mean all I violence against women is committed by men. And as I have

:10:50. > :10:55.said, this is not the care, so perhaps someone can explain to me

:10:56. > :11:00.how it is that violence by women on women is an obstacle to gender

:11:01. > :11:04.equality. The Muslim Council of Britain go on to say there is a

:11:05. > :11:08.unique opportunity to make the Istanbul convention law in the UK so

:11:09. > :11:11.we can show our support to women and girls who should be living free from

:11:12. > :11:15.any form of violence and the fear of it. I would agree with that

:11:16. > :11:21.sentiment. I would agree wit more if it was talking about everyone and

:11:22. > :11:27.not just women and girls. The Fawcett Society said the new treaty

:11:28. > :11:32.of the Council of Europe protects women against all forms of violence

:11:33. > :11:39.and prevent prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic

:11:40. > :11:44.violence. I established a monitoring body for implementation and

:11:45. > :11:48.progress, so more meddling from Afar if we ratify it. The council 06

:11:49. > :11:52.Europe has detail about the monitoring mechanisms that must be

:11:53. > :11:57.put in place, if we were to ratify this convention. An independent

:11:58. > :12:04.expert body, the group of experts on action against violence against

:12:05. > :12:08.women and domestic violence. Known as Grevio, which is initially

:12:09. > :12:13.composed of ten meh members and will be enlarged to 15 members following

:12:14. > :12:18.the 25th ratification and a political body, the committee of the

:12:19. > :12:23.parties, which is composed of representatives of the parties to

:12:24. > :12:27.the Istanbul convention. The task of the group is to monitor the

:12:28. > :12:31.implementation of the convention by the party, not something we do in

:12:32. > :12:34.our own country, we have this international body interfering and

:12:35. > :12:39.telling us how we are doing. Does he share my view that it may well be

:12:40. > :12:43.because of that sort of threat of interference that is one of the

:12:44. > :12:46.reasons why the German government doesn't wish to ratify this

:12:47. > :12:49.convention because a lot of searching questions will be asked

:12:50. > :12:55.about their attitude to what happened in Cologne on New Year's

:12:56. > :12:59.Eve last year. Well, my honourable friend may well be right, I am

:13:00. > :13:02.loathe to speak up for the gentleman Government, but I don't know what

:13:03. > :13:07.their motivation is, that is possible, I think it might be

:13:08. > :13:11.unwelcome to have these meddling bodies telling us how we are doing

:13:12. > :13:15.when many of these people are doing less than we are doing in our own

:13:16. > :13:18.country, we see that time and time again with international bodies who

:13:19. > :13:24.are supposed to be monitoring what we are doing, they would be better

:13:25. > :13:27.off monitoring what they are doing in their own countries, it could

:13:28. > :13:31.adopt where appropriate general recommendation on themes the and

:13:32. > :13:35.concepts of the convention. Be a living document. It wouldn't stick

:13:36. > :13:39.at what we are, we have seen this with the European convention of

:13:40. > :13:42.human right, the committee of -- committee of the party adopts

:13:43. > :13:47.recommendations to the parties concerned. So this would be an ever

:13:48. > :13:53.moving feast we would be signing up to. And it is also responsible for

:13:54. > :13:59.the election of the members. So there would be two forms of

:14:00. > :14:04.monitoring procedures, a country by country evaluation and a special

:14:05. > :14:10.inquiry procedure too, so a special inquiry procedure could be initiated

:14:11. > :14:14.by the group when there is reliable indication to prevent a serious

:14:15. > :14:19.persistent pattern of violence covered by the convention. In such a

:14:20. > :14:24.case they may request a special report by the party concerned. And

:14:25. > :14:26.after being examined by the group, the findings of the inquiry are

:14:27. > :14:30.transmitted to the party and where appropriate to the committee of the

:14:31. > :14:35.parties and the committee of ministers together with any comments

:14:36. > :14:39.and recommendation, what an absolute pure a tick nightmare we are going

:14:40. > :14:44.to be getting ourselves in to if we were to ratify this particular

:14:45. > :14:49.convention. We have seen how the public confidence in the European

:14:50. > :14:54.convention of human rights has been undermines time after time after

:14:55. > :14:58.time by ridiculous findings, that could never have been intended at

:14:59. > :15:03.the time that the convention was ratified, it is perfectly clear that

:15:04. > :15:09.this would end up in the same way, an ever moving feast, the goalposts

:15:10. > :15:13.always being changed to suit this politically correct agenda and the

:15:14. > :15:17.Government would be hamstrung by it because it ratified something it

:15:18. > :15:23.didn't really know what it was getting itself in to. They even have

:15:24. > :15:28.a flow chart, explaining what happens under the urgent inquiry

:15:29. > :15:34.procedures which I won't say any more about other than to note

:15:35. > :15:40.agreeing to be parties to things has consequences and the pro, and it is

:15:41. > :15:46.clear for all to see. And then you have integrated policies that you

:15:47. > :15:54.have to follow, and which again, I, I would like the minister to give

:15:55. > :15:57.some meat to about how he sees the Government implementing these

:15:58. > :16:02.integrated policies, and effective response to such violence required

:16:03. > :16:07.action by many different actors. They say. Say they would be

:16:08. > :16:12.interfering, this is where they would be interfering with law

:16:13. > :16:15.enforcement agency, the judiciary, the due distinguishry they even

:16:16. > :16:19.mention on their -- judiciary, we took it in this place, Mr Deputy

:16:20. > :16:24.Speaker that in fact I have heard some of the people today, who are

:16:25. > :16:30.arguing for this convention are some of the ones who are been most robust

:16:31. > :16:34.who say people should not be interfering in the judiciary, we

:16:35. > :16:40.should respect their independence, clearly by ratifying this particular

:16:41. > :16:48.convention, it says on the website thatty would be looking to they

:16:49. > :16:51.would be looking to the judiciary, NGO, child protection agencies is

:16:52. > :16:56.and other relevant partners they deem join forces on a particular

:16:57. > :17:00.case, what on earth would we be getting ourselves into by signing up

:17:01. > :17:03.to to this convention. We can sort these things out for ourself, we can

:17:04. > :17:10.pass any laws we want in this country to sort out any problems we

:17:11. > :17:14.deem fit. We do not have to sign up to some supranational body,

:17:15. > :17:19.interfering body that wants to intervene in the dense of our

:17:20. > :17:25.judiciary in order to sort out violence against other people, even

:17:26. > :17:32.violence against women and girls. So I oppose this bill, because it,

:17:33. > :17:35.because it actually introduces unnecessary meddling from

:17:36. > :17:38.supranational bodies we can quite do without and we can deal with

:17:39. > :17:45.particularly well ourselves with our courts if we have the gutses and

:17:46. > :17:51.will power to send perpetrators of violence to prison and keep them in

:17:52. > :17:57.prison, nobody seems to want do that on the benches opposite today. They

:17:58. > :18:01.would sooner do some signal virtual signalling with this bill.

:18:02. > :18:06.He says he is against this bill but at least we have a bill, if it

:18:07. > :18:09.hadn't been for the honourable lady bringing for tarred this bill this

:18:10. > :18:12.House might never have been able to discuss the issue before the

:18:13. > :18:18.Government went ahead and ratified it. My right honourable friend is

:18:19. > :18:20.right. And I did at the start and I do so again congratulate the

:18:21. > :18:24.honourable lady for bringing it forward. It is important that the

:18:25. > :18:28.public know that something with a very worthy sounding title, and a

:18:29. > :18:33.worthy sentiment behind it what the full implications are and why some

:18:34. > :18:37.of us are opposed to these supranational bodies interfering in

:18:38. > :18:42.what we do in this country. But I am against it for that reason, and I am

:18:43. > :18:48.against it because we should have a convention that deals with all

:18:49. > :18:54.violence, violence against men as well as violence against women, and

:18:55. > :18:58.I of course, of course Mr Deputy Speaker, we oppose violence against

:18:59. > :19:01.women but I also oppose violence against men an boys, having a

:19:02. > :19:05.strategy for one and not the other is not acceptable to me, and it

:19:06. > :19:10.really is as simple as that. I cannot understand for the life of

:19:11. > :19:14.me, how political correctness has become so entrenched in this

:19:15. > :19:19.country, that people here today can see nothing wrong with a whole

:19:20. > :19:23.policy based on violence, based simply on one sex. When unbelievably

:19:24. > :19:30.the evidence shows that it is the other sex who are more likely to be

:19:31. > :19:36.victims of violent crime than that. And also, there are lots of male

:19:37. > :19:41.victims of domestic violence too. As I find myself says too often, you

:19:42. > :19:46.couldn't make it up. Thank you very much Mr Speaker, that

:19:47. > :19:52.is 78 minutes that I believe I am never going to get back. Let us get

:19:53. > :19:57.on with the speeches. I have read the convention, I spent 26 years

:19:58. > :20:01.working on violence against women and domestic violence including

:20:02. > :20:04.victims who were male. I will start with my brief speech by answering

:20:05. > :20:08.some of the honourable gentleman's remark, Mr Deputy Speaker, the

:20:09. > :20:12.majority of victims, if the honourable gentleman refers to his

:20:13. > :20:17.own speech and to the British Crime Survey statistics he will know that

:20:18. > :20:22.the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault, rape, domestic

:20:23. > :20:27.violence, co-her sieve control and domestic homicide are female and

:20:28. > :20:31.this is specifically connected, both to their gender, and to gender

:20:32. > :20:37.inequality. Violence against women is both a cause and a consequence of

:20:38. > :20:41.gender inequality, that is why we have a gender specific convention,

:20:42. > :20:48.because if we want to tackle gender inequality and I do, we have to

:20:49. > :20:50.tackle the specific circumstances belief systems structures and

:20:51. > :20:55.behaviour behind violence against women, hence the need for the

:20:56. > :20:59.convention, he asks for neutral legislation, say to him, when you

:21:00. > :21:03.remain neural in a situation of profound inequality you are only

:21:04. > :21:10.siding with the powerful against the powerless.

:21:11. > :21:14.I may also add, he has asked why there are so refuges purpose-built

:21:15. > :21:19.for men, I will tell him, because I have been part of that movement for

:21:20. > :21:23.26 year, women set up refuges for women. There was never anything

:21:24. > :21:29.stopping men setting up refuges for men, but I know why they haven't set

:21:30. > :21:33.up so many, because I work for many years for Respect, which among other

:21:34. > :21:36.things runs the men's advice line, the national helpline for male

:21:37. > :21:41.victims of domestic violence. I was the research manager there so I know

:21:42. > :21:45.a thing or two. I can tell you that many men called the advice line but

:21:46. > :21:49.confidence ref fume was rarely what they wanted. They wanted a listening

:21:50. > :21:54.ear and they wanted practical advice and legal information, and that is

:21:55. > :21:58.what they got. I was going to speak about the work with persons that I

:21:59. > :22:02.have been involved in for about 10 year, I have crossed out a lot of my

:22:03. > :22:07.speech because I don't want to filibuster this bill out of time. So

:22:08. > :22:12.instead, I'm going to quote briefly, from research which I have help set

:22:13. > :22:17.up at Respect, the national organisation for work with

:22:18. > :22:22.perpetratorles of domestic violence and for work with male victims, this

:22:23. > :22:27.research, you can look it up online, it was carried out by Professor Liz

:22:28. > :22:31.Kelly, who was profoundly sceptical about the value of the programme

:22:32. > :22:36.when they started but they found that most men, who complete and it

:22:37. > :22:39.was men, we only examine men in this research programme, that doesn't

:22:40. > :22:49.mean there aren't female persons it means we were looking at men. Most

:22:50. > :22:52.men who completed a domestic violence programme stopped using

:22:53. > :22:56.violence. They reduce most other forms of abuse against their

:22:57. > :23:00.partner. I can say at the start almost all the women said their

:23:01. > :23:04.partners use some form of violence in the past three month, 12 months

:23:05. > :23:07.later the team found after their partner, completed the programme

:23:08. > :23:15.most said that the physical and sexual violence stopped. Most, not

:23:16. > :23:18.authorise all, programmes do not replace the criminal system they

:23:19. > :23:23.from a complement to it. They are part of the solution. Because if we

:23:24. > :23:26.are going to put men in prison, we still need know what we will do with

:23:27. > :23:29.them, they will still have relationships with their children,

:23:30. > :23:34.whether they are inside prison or outside, and one day most of them

:23:35. > :23:38.will come out and when they do they will have new partners, why not work

:23:39. > :23:44.hot how we can work with these men, many of whom say they would like to

:23:45. > :23:49.change but whose partners often, often say what they really want is

:23:50. > :23:54.for their partner to change. And most of the par in -- partners and

:23:55. > :23:58.ex-partners of men in the programme said they felt or are safer after

:23:59. > :24:02.their partner ex partner completed the programme. You can look it up

:24:03. > :24:07.online, if if you want to know the detail. I will give you a couple of

:24:08. > :24:11.examples before sitting down and allowing the minister to give more

:24:12. > :24:19.remarks which I hope will be helpful. In my experience as a

:24:20. > :24:22.facilitator I found many ways in which women became safer as a

:24:23. > :24:26.result. One was when their partner changed. Changed their attitude,

:24:27. > :24:30.behaviour and stopped using violence. We knew this because we

:24:31. > :24:34.have a separate but linked women's partner support project which told

:24:35. > :24:38.us whether or not the women felt or were safer. For some women, the

:24:39. > :24:41.programme help them to be safe because they themselves for the

:24:42. > :24:46.first time were able to get help, advice and a way of moving attention

:24:47. > :24:50.away from them as responsible for the violence and allowing them to

:24:51. > :24:54.end the relationship safely. I remember one woman who I never met,

:24:55. > :24:59.who a newborn BAA -- baby, I was working with her partner in the

:25:00. > :25:03.men's programme, she was living under such extreme control, the only

:25:04. > :25:09.time that she was free and safe to talk to the women's support worker

:25:10. > :25:13.was when we had her partner in the room with us. Over several weeks she

:25:14. > :25:17.was able to gain confidence and develop a safe plan for leaving

:25:18. > :25:22.while in the room, with us, her partner, an arrogant man with a huge

:25:23. > :25:27.sense of entitlement, gradually through talking a lot about it

:25:28. > :25:31.revealed more and more about his behaviour until we had enough

:25:32. > :25:33.information to report him to the authorities, who took action. In

:25:34. > :25:37.some cases, the women and children were safer because we were able to

:25:38. > :25:41.find out more about the perpetrator's risk to other people,

:25:42. > :25:44.through the individual assessment and group work which contributed to

:25:45. > :25:48.the co-ordinated community response. I can think of one such man who

:25:49. > :25:55.after he had to put himself in the role of a child, his own child,

:25:56. > :25:59.while other men in the room re-enacted an incident he committed.

:26:00. > :26:03.He completely withdrew his application for child contact, and

:26:04. > :26:07.sent a message to his ex partner that he realised how frighten she

:26:08. > :26:09.would be about their child and that he would wait until she decided the

:26:10. > :26:19.time was right and safe. Above all, Mr deputies bigger, we,

:26:20. > :26:23.the group work facilitated, we modelled how a relationship between

:26:24. > :26:26.a man and woman based on equality actually works, which that many of

:26:27. > :26:31.the men we worked with was the first time they had ever seen it we

:26:32. > :26:34.modelled this agreement where we disagreed but dealt with it

:26:35. > :26:37.respectfully. As the only woman in the room, I was often the person

:26:38. > :26:41.whom the men in the room had to use to learn to manage how to disagree

:26:42. > :26:49.with a woman without being abusive or controlling or domineering or

:26:50. > :26:53.trying to have the last word. I know many people, particularly

:26:54. > :26:56.women's groups, who are rightly concerned or even very suspicious of

:26:57. > :27:00.perpetrator programmes when they started on some still are. That's

:27:01. > :27:07.why a good accreditation system is so important and why I declare an

:27:08. > :27:09.interest and how I helped develop the accreditation system. I'm proud

:27:10. > :27:14.of it because it differentiates between a programme doing good work,

:27:15. > :27:16.challenging men and some women who are perpetrators of domestic

:27:17. > :27:21.violence from those who are not affected. Finally, ratifying this

:27:22. > :27:27.convention would place requirements of the UK Government to take the

:27:28. > :27:31.steps that it contains, it would be a statement of commitment in so many

:27:32. > :27:36.ways. We as a nation are ahead of the rest of the world and have led

:27:37. > :27:42.the way in setting up refuges, developing perpetrator programmes in

:27:43. > :27:49.both Scotland, where so many of my colleagues are, and in England and

:27:50. > :27:54.Wales, have set up pioneering work, to challenge men whose behaviour is

:27:55. > :27:57.violent and abusive. We have set up prevention work with young people in

:27:58. > :28:02.schools, something else I was involved in before becoming an MP.

:28:03. > :28:05.We've developed risk assessment and management and we have nothing to

:28:06. > :28:14.fear, and neither does the honourable member for Shipley, we

:28:15. > :28:18.have nothing to fear from adopting the Istanbul convention. It merely

:28:19. > :28:21.does what it says, which is to acknowledge we are living in a

:28:22. > :28:25.situation of profound gender inequality, which is both a cause

:28:26. > :28:29.and consequence of violence against women and girls on its about time we

:28:30. > :28:34.ratified this convention, because the safety of women and children is

:28:35. > :28:41.too important not to do it. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

:28:42. > :28:47.Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. First of all I want to congratulate the

:28:48. > :28:53.member for introducing this Bill, and for in a powerful opening

:28:54. > :28:55.speech. The Government is absolutely committed to tackling violence

:28:56. > :29:01.against women and girls in all its forms. The coalition government

:29:02. > :29:05.share this commitment and in 2012 signed the Istanbul convention to

:29:06. > :29:08.show how seriously it took its responsibility for tackling violence

:29:09. > :29:11.against women and girls. This government remains committed to

:29:12. > :29:15.ratifying the convention. Before I turned the detail of the Bill, I

:29:16. > :29:21.want to be very clear. The measures already in place in the United

:29:22. > :29:25.Kingdom protect women and girls from violence in nearly all cases, or

:29:26. > :29:30.comply and go no further than the Convention requires. I also think it

:29:31. > :29:34.is worth noting the speech, the powerful speech from my honourable

:29:35. > :29:38.friend, the member for Shipley, who gave us all food for thought and

:29:39. > :29:43.made a very valid point, in the sense of we have to remember there

:29:44. > :29:46.is violence against men and boys. There is male rape and that is

:29:47. > :29:50.equally unacceptable but we are dealing today with a specific

:29:51. > :29:53.private members Bill. We do know that some crimes disproportionately

:29:54. > :29:56.affects women and girls. The United Kingdom is leading the way

:29:57. > :30:06.internationally in efforts to tackle that -- this in all its forms.

:30:07. > :30:09.Perpetrators are brought to justice and we do all we can to prevent

:30:10. > :30:16.these crimes happening in the first place.

:30:17. > :30:20.The Minister said there are certain crimes that disproportionately

:30:21. > :30:24.affect women and girls. There are more male victims of violent crime

:30:25. > :30:28.than female victims of violent crime. Surely the Minister can

:30:29. > :30:31.acknowledge and accept that? This Bill is not dealing with one of the

:30:32. > :30:42.issues he refers to. I would say to all honourable

:30:43. > :30:46.members opposite, when he wants to intervene and make a point that

:30:47. > :30:49.backs up the powerful speech he makes is inappropriate and misses

:30:50. > :30:53.the point of having a debate in this house. I would say to my honourable

:30:54. > :30:57.friend, I will come to some of the issues in a minute, but there is

:30:58. > :31:01.obviously a difference, in terms of the number of people affected by

:31:02. > :31:05.domestic abuse and domestic sexual abuse which predominantly affects

:31:06. > :31:10.women. I do acknowledge if you look at crime across the country, men are

:31:11. > :31:14.suffering and he's right, we should be equally intolerant of that. I

:31:15. > :31:18.will just touch on a few specific issues. Introducing new laws, as we

:31:19. > :31:22.have done, to ensure perpetrators of violence against women and girls

:31:23. > :31:29.face consequences for their actions including the criminalisation of

:31:30. > :31:33.forced marriages, two new stalking offences and of domestic abuse.

:31:34. > :31:36.Introducing new tools to protect victims and prevent these crimes

:31:37. > :31:42.happening is happened as well. We have two new civil orders to manage

:31:43. > :31:45.offenders. Domestic violence protection orders have been rolled

:31:46. > :31:50.out and we need to introduce the domestic violence law called Claire

:31:51. > :31:54.'s law, allowing women to check if their partner has a violent history.

:31:55. > :31:59.We have raised awareness among the public and professionals. For

:32:00. > :32:08.example a teenage abuse campaign, which encouraged teams to rethink

:32:09. > :32:13.their thoughts on violence. Driving a culture of change and the police's

:32:14. > :32:18.response to this is also important and we've been working on that. This

:32:19. > :32:23.includes ensuring the recommendations for a review into

:32:24. > :32:31.domestic abuse are acted upon. All forces have now published action

:32:32. > :32:37.plans and we have a duty to tackle honour -based violence.

:32:38. > :32:39.Strengthening the law on female genital mutilation and introducing

:32:40. > :32:46.protection orders and a new mandatory reporting duty. And a Home

:32:47. > :32:53.Office unit to deal with female mutilation. Some of this is across

:32:54. > :32:56.both men and women, but while the nature of these crimes is often

:32:57. > :32:59.gendered I do recognise, as my honourable friend rightly pointed

:33:00. > :33:04.out, men and boys can also be victims of domestic and sexual

:33:05. > :33:09.violence. They also deserve support and protection. All our policies are

:33:10. > :33:13.applied fairly and equitably to all perpetrators and victims of crime,

:33:14. > :33:16.irrespective of gender. But I recognise the male victims may need

:33:17. > :33:22.more specific support. Actually, as my honourable friend the Shipley

:33:23. > :33:25.outlined, if we see some of the reaction on things like Twitter, it

:33:26. > :33:28.highlights why sometimes male victims need very specific support

:33:29. > :33:33.to have confidence to come forward, in the way more and more women now

:33:34. > :33:41.do. That is why the Home Office funds the men's advice line, as well

:33:42. > :33:45.as Gallup which provide support to the LGBT community affected by

:33:46. > :33:50.violence and abuse. We provide central government funding to

:33:51. > :33:56.support victims, including refugees, rape support centres, helplines,

:33:57. > :33:59.advisers and independent domestic violence advisors as well as

:34:00. > :34:08.supporting victims of female genital mutilation and forced marriage and

:34:09. > :34:13.those who support prostitution. In taking forward this work, the UK is

:34:14. > :34:18.already fully compliant with the vast majority of the conventions and

:34:19. > :34:22.articles which requires signatories to ensure four key things. Legal

:34:23. > :34:26.measures are in place to address violence against women and girls.

:34:27. > :34:29.Secondly, there is appropriate support for victims. Thirdly,

:34:30. > :34:35.professionals understand the issues and fourth, government oversight. So

:34:36. > :34:39.we are making progress. More and more victims are having the

:34:40. > :34:43.confidence to come forward and police referrals, prosecutions and

:34:44. > :34:47.convictions for offences are all at their highest ever levels. But we

:34:48. > :34:53.are not only cannot be complacent. On the 8th of March we published our

:34:54. > :34:56.cross government strategy, which sets out our ambition that by the

:34:57. > :35:01.end of this Parliament is no victim of abuse is turned away from the

:35:02. > :35:05.support they need. That strategy is underpinned by increasing the

:35:06. > :35:09.funding of ?80 million for tackling violence against women and girls

:35:10. > :35:14.between now and 2020. This includes protecting the funding for rape

:35:15. > :35:18.support centres. ?1 million for national helplines, a two-year fund

:35:19. > :35:23.for refugees in a new ?50 million transformation fund to promote the

:35:24. > :35:28.early intervention and prevention the lady just outlined. When this

:35:29. > :35:35.dedicated funding is supported by funding for innovative programmes,

:35:36. > :35:39.the police innovation fund. Troubled families programme, and further

:35:40. > :35:43.funding through the tampon tax. In addition last week we published in

:35:44. > :35:48.National statement of expectations, which sets out the actions local

:35:49. > :35:51.area should take to give the victims of the support they deserve.

:35:52. > :35:54.Guidance for local commissioners. Announced we would introduce a new

:35:55. > :35:58.stalking protection order to allow the police and courts to intervene

:35:59. > :36:04.early, to keep victims safe and to stop strangers stalking before

:36:05. > :36:08.escalates. We made available a range of additional resources on domestic

:36:09. > :36:12.abuse, including updated guidelines on the disclosure scheme. We want to

:36:13. > :36:18.see this new funding and the new tools we have introduced used to

:36:19. > :36:21.aid, promote and and get the best local practice make sure early

:36:22. > :36:24.intervention and prevention become the norm. The measures we have

:36:25. > :36:28.introduced and 20 twelfths have helped to strengthen our compliance

:36:29. > :36:32.with the Istanbul convention. As I said, in nearly all cases we do

:36:33. > :36:38.comply with all go further than the convention itself requires.

:36:39. > :36:43.While some have suggested the UK not ratify the convention, signals a

:36:44. > :36:46.lack of commitment in tackling this issue it internationally, I should

:36:47. > :36:50.stress we're the country have played a leading role in ending these

:36:51. > :36:53.crimes overseas. We should be proud of the international leadership we

:36:54. > :37:02.have shown that the global summit to end sexual violence and conflict.

:37:03. > :37:06.And at the 2014... The Department for International Development runs a

:37:07. > :37:11.?35 million programme to tackle female genital mutilation and ?36

:37:12. > :37:17.million programme to end child early and forced marriage. It also helps

:37:18. > :37:23.many country takes more effective action to tackle violence against

:37:24. > :37:26.women and girls. The Foreign Commonwealth Office increase their

:37:27. > :37:30.resources to tackle this by more than 60% in recent years and its

:37:31. > :37:35.spending on these projects has increased 2.6 million since 2015. As

:37:36. > :37:40.I say, we are absolutely committed to ratifying the convention. But

:37:41. > :37:47.before we do that, we must ensure we are fully compliant with it. We have

:37:48. > :37:51.already taken the legislative steps necessary to ratify by criminalising

:37:52. > :37:54.forced marriage. Members have referred to specific articles and I

:37:55. > :38:00.would deal with one the honourable member for Shipley pointed out.

:38:01. > :38:04.Further amendments to domestic law are necessary to comply with the

:38:05. > :38:08.extraterritorial jurisdiction requirements, which are in article

:38:09. > :38:15.44 of the convention. Article 44 requires the United Kingdom to take

:38:16. > :38:17.extra territorial jurisdiction over these offences, established in

:38:18. > :38:23.accordance with the convention when committed abroad by UK nationals. We

:38:24. > :38:25.already have extraterritorial jurisdiction over summer offences

:38:26. > :38:31.covered by the convention, including the common of law offence of murder,

:38:32. > :38:34.sexual offences against children, forced marriage and female genital

:38:35. > :38:38.mutilation. But we need to amend domestic law, to take

:38:39. > :38:42.extraterritorial jurisdiction over a range of other offences. In England

:38:43. > :38:46.and Wales, as in Scotland and Northern Ireland, before we are

:38:47. > :38:51.fully compliant and able to ratify the Convention. As a general law

:38:52. > :38:53.government policy on the jurisdiction of our courts is

:38:54. > :38:56.criminal offending is best dealt with with the criminal justice

:38:57. > :39:02.system of the state whose territory the offence occurred.

:39:03. > :39:09.Extraterritorial jurisdiction is important to address serious crimes

:39:10. > :39:14.committed overseas, in part of a consensus on which we cooperate. Any

:39:15. > :39:18.extension has an impact on the criminal justice agencies, courts,

:39:19. > :39:21.prisons and potentially increased demands on their resources. We need

:39:22. > :39:26.to make sure we are able to consider carefully the extent to which it is

:39:27. > :39:30.necessary to take extra territorial jurisdiction for compliance with the

:39:31. > :39:33.convention. We have carefully considered this Bill and before I

:39:34. > :39:38.outlined that, I will happily taken intervention.

:39:39. > :39:41.Would you agree with me rape is a particularly serious offence that

:39:42. > :39:46.should be covered by extraterritorial jurisdiction and

:39:47. > :39:49.agree the deterrent aspect of extra territorial jurisdiction were stop

:39:50. > :39:56.them being taken out of the country, to be violated?

:39:57. > :39:59.As I said, there are a range of covered by the convention that

:40:00. > :40:04.include murder, sexual offences against children and forced marriage

:40:05. > :40:08.and female genital mutilation. We need to look carefully at what is

:40:09. > :40:11.covered by extraterritorial jurisdiction before we take a step

:40:12. > :40:15.forward in that regard. We have carefully considered this Bill. We

:40:16. > :40:19.do support its key principles, which praised a duty on the Government to

:40:20. > :40:21.take all reasonable steps to enable us to become compliant with the

:40:22. > :40:28.convention. To require the Government to lay Parliament report

:40:29. > :40:31.setting the steps to enable us to take on the convention and require

:40:32. > :40:35.the Government to make an annual report to Parliament, as the

:40:36. > :40:39.honourable lady said in her speech, measures to enable the UK to ratify

:40:40. > :40:42.the Convention, including any legislative proposals and

:40:43. > :40:43.post-ratification, any measures taken to make sure we remain

:40:44. > :41:00.compliant. I need to be clear there are some

:41:01. > :41:04.aspects we need to consider carefully, as members will

:41:05. > :41:09.appreciate, the Stan dull convention applies to the whole of UK and it

:41:10. > :41:14.covers areas which have devolved. I am keen to ensure that we have the

:41:15. > :41:19.appropriate time to consultant more fully on the measures in this bill.

:41:20. > :41:23.In particular, the Government does have concerns about the timescale

:41:24. > :41:27.put forward in clause two, which would require the Government to lay

:41:28. > :41:32.a report which includes the date by which we expect the UK to be able to

:41:33. > :41:36.ratify the convention within four weeks of this act receiving Royal

:41:37. > :41:42.Assent. The honourable lady mentioned areas that could be

:41:43. > :41:46.considered for jurisdiction, any new area for Exeter forrial jurisdiction

:41:47. > :41:50.will require primary legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland as

:41:51. > :41:54.well as England and Wales, I do therefore have reservation about the

:41:55. > :41:59.four week timescale. In addition, I will continue for this point for a

:42:00. > :42:06.moment then I will give way. In addition clause three part 1 E

:42:07. > :42:10.require the Government, which sets out the ongoing compliance with the

:42:11. > :42:16.conventions a members are aware we will be required to provide up up

:42:17. > :42:24.days to the convention of Europe, this requires risk duplicating that.

:42:25. > :42:29.I thank hill for giving way. Has he been able to consider any

:42:30. > :42:34.alternative timetable that that he might bring to this House if he

:42:35. > :42:39.disagrees, and could he commit in principle then, that there will be

:42:40. > :42:42.Government time allocated to the ratification of the Istanbul

:42:43. > :42:47.convention? Hopefully my very next few words will put the honourable

:42:48. > :42:50.lady's mind at rest when I say these are areas, both points and others

:42:51. > :42:55.members may wish to raise are areas we will want to consider more fully

:42:56. > :42:58.in consultation with the devolved administration and return to a

:42:59. > :43:00.committee stage of the bill. At this stage I am pleased to say the

:43:01. > :43:12.Government supports the bill in principle.

:43:13. > :43:16.Thank you. I thank the honourable member for his words. I will go into

:43:17. > :43:23.some detail on what he said if that is acceptable. I want to start by

:43:24. > :43:27.congratulating the honourable member for securing this Private Members

:43:28. > :43:34.Bill but also for the hard work and graft she and her team have done to

:43:35. > :43:38.make sure this issue remains on the Government agenda, maintains a high

:43:39. > :43:43.profile, and is within this country given the recognition it deserves. I

:43:44. > :43:48.think, in your opening remarks you said that in a year there had been

:43:49. > :43:52.58,000 cases of domestic violence in Scotland alone, and then went on to

:43:53. > :43:58.say that across the world, one in three women will experience some

:43:59. > :44:03.form of abuse, that says to us why incredibly important this debate is

:44:04. > :44:06.but also ratification is. I would like to pick up the next speech by

:44:07. > :44:09.the honourable member for Twickenham. She said in her

:44:10. > :44:13.experience in her constituency and speaking to the police, and one of

:44:14. > :44:20.the police said to her we are more unsafe in our own homes than we are

:44:21. > :44:25.on the streets. Again, that very clearly illuminated the scale and

:44:26. > :44:30.risks women are facing on a daily basis, the honourable member from

:44:31. > :44:34.Birmingham and Yardley, incredibly emotionally spoke about the work,

:44:35. > :44:38.she used to run a refuge and made us realise Christmas is a significant

:44:39. > :44:43.time for many families, when women are doing everything they possibly

:44:44. > :44:48.can to abate the violence they Li with on daily basis, so their

:44:49. > :44:53.children can experience a safe Christmas, if not a joyful one. The

:44:54. > :44:58.honourable member for Shipperley. I agreed with him on one point, that

:44:59. > :45:02.is we all in this House want true equality but where we get true

:45:03. > :45:08.equality is dealing with genders violence when we see it so we can go

:45:09. > :45:12.forward on an equal basis and sadly, unless we ratify this bill and

:45:13. > :45:16.unless the government keeps going with the term sterling work it is

:45:17. > :45:22.doing to eliminate violence against women and girls we will never get to

:45:23. > :45:28.that point. It was poignant when the honourable member for Bristol West

:45:29. > :45:31.spoke about her former role working for Respect on perpetrator

:45:32. > :45:35.programmes to prevent violence. We focus so much on the crime, we tend

:45:36. > :45:42.not to focus on prevention and I think that is where we as a society

:45:43. > :45:48.are falling short. It is absolutely right that unless we address the

:45:49. > :45:53.underlying motivations that lead to the violence within relationship,

:45:54. > :45:56.the coercive control, we will never eradicate this programme, no matter

:45:57. > :45:59.how good the legislation is, I know from previously speaking to the

:46:00. > :46:04.honourable member, she said something which has stuck with me,

:46:05. > :46:09.which over the decades she has worked with offenders she has only

:46:10. > :46:13.met one or two had there been appropriate intervention at an early

:46:14. > :46:17.age, they would not have become a perpetrator. I think it is our duty

:46:18. > :46:20.in this house to make sure the perpetrator programmes and also

:46:21. > :46:26.early intervention programmes are at the core of all we do.

:46:27. > :46:29.I then want to turn to the minister, and the minister is perfectly placed

:46:30. > :46:33.and I was really welcomed you saying you are going to do much more

:46:34. > :46:36.working with the police, so they, it is not just about getting the

:46:37. > :46:41.legislation in this place, it is about getting it applied on the

:46:42. > :46:44.ground, to protect everyone, so we can have a safe society. I do

:46:45. > :46:50.commend the police, because in the last sort of ten years, they have

:46:51. > :46:54.moved seismicically from where they were of not even really

:46:55. > :46:57.acknowledging in some cases domestic violence could go on the the

:46:58. > :47:01.position where they are actively getting involved. I would ask the

:47:02. > :47:06.minister to look when he speaks to the police, if he could ask them

:47:07. > :47:08.when they go into a call about domestic violence, if they could

:47:09. > :47:13.look to make sure that the children are safe as well, because I am still

:47:14. > :47:18.hearing cases where there ant automatic. I am pleased to be able

:47:19. > :47:24.to say from the outset I sup po port this bill. I am proud the leader

:47:25. > :47:29.testify opposition has said they would recommend a ratification.

:47:30. > :47:37.Obligation become more important than ever, they provide us with

:47:38. > :47:40.external peck specktive. Suburb human rights conventions create

:47:41. > :47:44.clear standards that every citizen can rely on, an area we should be

:47:45. > :47:49.aspiring to achieve more and I know it is of great importance to this

:47:50. > :47:55.house, the elimination of vie against against women and girls, it

:47:56. > :47:59.requires a radical seismic shift in power and attitudes and this House

:48:00. > :48:03.must be instrumental in that work. We must be instrumental because we

:48:04. > :48:06.need to acknowledge across the House, that this is gendered

:48:07. > :48:16.violence, carried out against women and girls because they are women and

:48:17. > :48:19.girls, and it is this that makes the council of European's council

:48:20. > :48:24.otherwise known as the Stan bull convention important, it is a

:48:25. > :48:28.historic treats that provides a legal frame works it is first of its

:48:29. > :48:32.kind and I am proud it was a Labour Government that led the negotiations

:48:33. > :48:34.that brought it into gins, if implemented the convention would

:48:35. > :48:39.provide a step change in the way violence against women and girls is

:48:40. > :48:44.considered tackled and prevented. It requires states to take a

:48:45. > :48:48.comprehensive action, set out minimum standards and creates

:48:49. > :48:52.legally binding measures to prevent violence against women and girls. It

:48:53. > :48:56.sets out the need to place victims at the centre of all measures to

:48:57. > :48:59.tackle violence against women and girl, it highlights the role of

:49:00. > :49:03.civic society and calls on Governments to ensure they have the

:49:04. > :49:06.resources and recognition to do a good job. The convention sets out

:49:07. > :49:11.what survives of violence need and can expect from their Government to

:49:12. > :49:16.live in safety. Of vital importance, the convention calls on states to

:49:17. > :49:27.prevent violence, to take step tosser eradicate the practice, the

:49:28. > :49:32.custom, traditions and all otherish issues, the sheer strength only show

:49:33. > :49:35.serves to show, it has been four years and six month since the

:49:36. > :49:39.Government signed it. As the honourable member from Birmingham

:49:40. > :49:42.and Yardley said, the Government should be congratulated on where

:49:43. > :49:48.they have progressed to end violence. The Home Office is ending

:49:49. > :49:52.-- strategy shows a commitment to tackling this heinous crimes and I

:49:53. > :49:55.welcome the minister went into some detail about the work this

:49:56. > :50:00.Government is doing initially, it is a source of great pride to all of us

:50:01. > :50:04.as a country and the Government should be commended on that, we have

:50:05. > :50:10.so much further to go. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission

:50:11. > :50:15.has said, it would drive forward important and necessary changes, to

:50:16. > :50:18.the way the UK currently protects women and girls against violence.

:50:19. > :50:23.Without ratification the convention is awe piece of paper, without

:50:24. > :50:27.ratification it affords no-one rights. It creates no minimum

:50:28. > :50:31.standards and renders it impossible to hold the Government to account.

:50:32. > :50:37.The Government have said and I am very grateful to the minister, they

:50:38. > :50:40.are committed to ratification, yet despite a co-ordinated and

:50:41. > :50:44.consistent campaign from members across the House and charities and

:50:45. > :50:50.the public the Government appears to be dragging its feet. The minister

:50:51. > :50:54.said the Government need to establish the extra territorial

:50:55. > :50:57.jurisdiction as is required in the convention prior to ratification.

:50:58. > :51:02.But minister, the Government has been saying this since July 2014.

:51:03. > :51:06.Both the Home Office and ministers of justice have given the same

:51:07. > :51:10.excuse for their failure to ratify the convention for two-and-a-half

:51:11. > :51:15.year, it is understandable that obstacles to ratification exist,

:51:16. > :51:20.they existed for all the signatory countries, yet our Government are

:51:21. > :51:26.yet to inform the House what exact legislative changes are needed. When

:51:27. > :51:29.will the Government set out the timetable for overcoming the

:51:30. > :51:34.obstacles to ratification? Can the minister tell us how many offences

:51:35. > :51:38.will need legislative change? As the minister said, these changes will

:51:39. > :51:42.cut across devolved and reserved powers so what conversations has he

:51:43. > :51:45.had with the three devolved Parliaments and the assemblies? Will

:51:46. > :51:48.the Government commit today to setting out the timetable to achieve

:51:49. > :51:52.a cross UK an cross Government changes when they need to ratify the

:51:53. > :51:55.convention? We know that changes to domestic law are required, we

:51:56. > :51:59.understand that, the bill will hold the Government this bill will hold

:52:00. > :52:05.to Government to their commitments. Mr Deputy Speaker I believe there

:52:06. > :52:11.are two areas of policy that require improvement to meet the provisions

:52:12. > :52:16.under the convention, although they are not a prevention of

:52:17. > :52:19.ratification. The first son the need for sex education in school, to give

:52:20. > :52:24.children the knowledge and resilience and confidence they need

:52:25. > :52:29.to maintain healthy friendships and recognise abusive or co-Serb sieve

:52:30. > :52:33.behaviour, the convention provides explicit requests for education

:52:34. > :52:39.work, to help prevent violence. We can make huge steps towards

:52:40. > :52:47.fulfilling this requirement, with the statutory steps in relationship

:52:48. > :52:53.education. Gives the right to access specialist services. Refuge services

:52:54. > :52:57.see their funding shrinking, without strategic approach for the delivery

:52:58. > :52:59.of funding of domestic violence services, the Government cannot

:53:00. > :53:06.claim to meet the provision in the convention. To conclude, today's

:53:07. > :53:11.bill will provide a duty to take all reasonable steps to overcome the

:53:12. > :53:16.final obstacles to ratification. It will put the Government forward on

:53:17. > :53:20.the reforms needed, such as sustainable funding for specialist

:53:21. > :53:23.refuges and statutory sexual education in schools. It will

:53:24. > :53:26.provide was the evidence we need that the Government is truly

:53:27. > :53:32.committed to ratification of the convention and a timetable to prove

:53:33. > :53:36.they will do it. We need urgent action, to tackle and prevent

:53:37. > :53:38.violence against women and girls and this bill would see that the

:53:39. > :53:46.Government is committed to that goal. I therefore urge all members

:53:47. > :53:52.to support this bill. First of all I would like to pay

:53:53. > :53:57.tribute to the honourable MEP fob for businessman and Buchan for

:53:58. > :54:01.bringing this to the House, for me, tackling vie vens against women and

:54:02. > :54:04.girls is not a party political issue, it's a matter of basic

:54:05. > :54:09.humanity that unites us all across the House, we have heard the

:54:10. > :54:14.statistic, one in three women globally are subject to physical or

:54:15. > :54:20.sexual violence. And it is appalling, that 20 years after the

:54:21. > :54:24.UN declared violence against women and girls a global pandemic, almost

:54:25. > :54:30.half of the women who are homicide victims aren't the world, were

:54:31. > :54:37.killed by intimate partners or family member, just 6% of men

:54:38. > :54:43.suffered the same fate. And earlier this month, a census set out how 936

:54:44. > :54:49.women in this country have been killed by men in England and Wales

:54:50. > :54:54.in the last six years. To make this clear, this is three women every

:54:55. > :55:01.week, for six years. We owe it to those 936 women to do

:55:02. > :55:05.all we can, to tackle violence against them, whether it occurs in

:55:06. > :55:09.our constituency, our County, our country or in the wider world. I was

:55:10. > :55:12.asked to attend this debate by several constituencies --

:55:13. > :55:16.constituents today, including Kirstie Stage who is in her lower

:55:17. > :55:22.sixth year at school outside my constituency. She we owe it to those

:55:23. > :55:23.936 women to do all we can, to tackle violence against them,

:55:24. > :55:26.whether it occurs in our constituency, our County, our

:55:27. > :55:28.country or in the wider world. I was asked to attend this debate by

:55:29. > :55:30.several constituencies -- constituents today, including

:55:31. > :55:32.Kirstie Stage who is in her lower sixth year at school outside my

:55:33. > :55:34.constituency. She said to me that "Our failure to ratify the Istanbul

:55:35. > :55:36.convention, which we helped to draft is embarrassing." I think we

:55:37. > :55:39.appreciate the legal complexities do take time to unpick, and I am glad

:55:40. > :55:42.that the minister has been able to clarify what progress has been made,

:55:43. > :55:46.and indicate a pathway on how the remaining issues will be resolved.

:55:47. > :55:52.I also thought long and hard before making a contribution today because

:55:53. > :55:57.we have heard some very powerful speeches in recent weeks, from

:55:58. > :55:59.people with direct personal experience on front line

:56:00. > :56:02.campaigners. I believe it's important for MPs like me as a white

:56:03. > :56:06.middle-class male to also contribute. Violence it against

:56:07. > :56:11.women and girls is an issue that we should all take very seriously. It

:56:12. > :56:16.is very important to our constituents that we do so. It

:56:17. > :56:21.shouldn't be just left to females and campaigners to make the case,

:56:22. > :56:27.because these crimes are largely committed by men, and we as men must

:56:28. > :56:33.challenge them. This is not just a women's issue or a gender issue its

:56:34. > :56:38.human dignity issue, and our society should be exercised by. As

:56:39. > :56:42.constituency MPs, we'll see the very human impacts of domestic violence,

:56:43. > :56:51.how it ruins families, leads to long-term health problems and

:56:52. > :56:54.long-term impacts. We see front line services providing spaces where

:56:55. > :56:58.women can rebuild their lives. I would like to pay tribute at this

:56:59. > :57:02.point to the Salisbury women's refuge and all its staff, the

:57:03. > :57:08.outstanding work they have done in this area over the last 32 years.

:57:09. > :57:13.When I visited last July, I was reminded that refuges are unique

:57:14. > :57:16.services. When other support is not accessible or appropriate in a

:57:17. > :57:21.crisis of these sensitivities, they provide much needed safe breathing

:57:22. > :57:28.space. In the Salisbury refuge staff work around the clock 24 hours a

:57:29. > :57:32.day, 365 days a year to help women and often their children live

:57:33. > :57:36.independently and access the support they need. It's more than just a

:57:37. > :57:40.safe building, its counselling and emotional support. It provides

:57:41. > :57:45.budgeting assistance and access to educational programmes. And as the

:57:46. > :57:50.manager Sue Cox said on local radio station recently, it's about making

:57:51. > :57:54.sure that by -- the time they leave, everything is on top form. Services

:57:55. > :57:58.like these are truly bridal and it's extremely welcome the Government has

:57:59. > :58:04.pledged ?80 million in funding to protect them. -- truly vital.

:58:05. > :58:07.Ministers pledged to ensure this resulting remains under review and I

:58:08. > :58:10.hope this will lead to further resources, if necessary, in the

:58:11. > :58:13.future. Detecting victims is a key plank of

:58:14. > :58:24.the access both shoulders, 24-7

:58:25. > :58:28.telephone lines. Not every country offers NGO expertise as we do. And

:58:29. > :58:32.in many places these remain aspirational. When we ratify the

:58:33. > :58:36.Convention, we'd be sending a clear signal that we want to see those

:58:37. > :58:39.services extended, so they can work effectively not just in our

:58:40. > :58:43.constituencies but everywhere around the world. But as the Bill rightly

:58:44. > :58:47.notes, this is not an issue that can be resolved by one individual

:58:48. > :58:50.agency. The convention calls for concerted action by many different

:58:51. > :58:56.actors and for the Government to ensure that we have comprehensive

:58:57. > :59:00.and coordinated policies, involving government agencies, NGOs and

:59:01. > :59:05.national and regional department. It's important to consider how we

:59:06. > :59:09.can work across constituency boundaries and national level. Since

:59:10. > :59:12.2010 this government has made preventing violence against women

:59:13. > :59:17.and girls and supporting survivors a key priority. And I paid tribute to

:59:18. > :59:20.our Prime Minister for her commitment in keeping this issue at

:59:21. > :59:25.the top of the agenda and ensuring that national strategy did not fall

:59:26. > :59:28.by the wayside. I welcome the significant new legislation

:59:29. > :59:36.introduced to tackle stalking, forced marriage, female genital

:59:37. > :59:39.mutilation and revenge pornography. A new domestic abuse offenders

:59:40. > :59:44.ensures coercive behaviour can be punished appropriately. The speed at

:59:45. > :59:47.which these changes are being made demonstrates the Government's

:59:48. > :59:50.Syria's commitment to ensuring professionals have all the right

:59:51. > :59:57.tools at their disposal. This is reinforced by the fact that in

:59:58. > :00:01.2014-15 we saw total prosecution for violence against women and girls at

:00:02. > :00:05.the highest level ever recorded. But sometimes the legal tools are not

:00:06. > :00:09.enough and national action is needed to address the root causes of

:00:10. > :00:11.inequality and discrimination and support programmes that prevent

:00:12. > :00:16.domestic violence from happening in the first place. As the Prime

:00:17. > :00:20.Minister wrote in the foreword to the Government strategy, from health

:00:21. > :00:24.providers to law enforcement, to employers on friends and family, we

:00:25. > :00:29.all need to play our part. Every interaction must be treated as an

:00:30. > :00:32.opportunity to intervene. The report talks about a girl who was just 17

:00:33. > :00:38.years old, telling her family she knew that one day her ex-partner

:00:39. > :00:45.would kill her. And he did. As MPs, we have to ask how these critical

:00:46. > :00:51.failures can occur. And what more we can do to stop them in future. This

:00:52. > :00:54.will require more than just a shift in attitudes, but also understanding

:00:55. > :01:00.the value of preventative and educational programmes. In my

:01:01. > :01:05.county, the Swindon and Wiltshire crime Commissioner recognise the

:01:06. > :01:09.value of such approaches through innovation funding. Splits is one

:01:10. > :01:14.such Charity commissioned in Wiltshire and they used a grant to

:01:15. > :01:18.develop a project working directly with young people on what a

:01:19. > :01:21.respectful relationship was. At the start of the project around 60% of

:01:22. > :01:27.young people recognise the different forms of domestic violence and this

:01:28. > :01:32.increased to 93% at the end of the project. If just 10% of the audience

:01:33. > :01:38.of these workshops were better able to identify the signs of abusive

:01:39. > :01:44.relationships early on, financial savings could be in excess of 5.6

:01:45. > :01:49.million. To say nothing of the human and emotional cost of victims and

:01:50. > :01:53.families that would be avoided. I hope that the Government's new ?50

:01:54. > :01:57.million transformation fund will recognise the long-term benefit and

:01:58. > :02:02.value of such similar preventative measures. As I said earlier, the

:02:03. > :02:08.Istanbul convention is about more than just the UK and part of what we

:02:09. > :02:16.-- why here today to debate is the global programme against violence --

:02:17. > :02:25.violence against women and girls. In some country the figure of those

:02:26. > :02:29.who violence is 70%. It even easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer enormity

:02:30. > :02:33.of suffering. The world is now more uncertain with constantly changing

:02:34. > :02:35.threats and we so often feel powerless to alleviate the

:02:36. > :02:42.devastating impact of war and internal conflict. Is that we've

:02:43. > :02:47.seen all too recently places like Aleppo. It's therefore heartening to

:02:48. > :02:50.be reminded the UK has played such a leading role in promoting

:02:51. > :02:53.international action, to tackle violence against women and girls

:02:54. > :02:56.where ever it occurs. We can take heart from the progress that has

:02:57. > :03:00.been made in recent years and the efforts of the Government to move

:03:01. > :03:04.this issue up the international agenda. The momentum generated by

:03:05. > :03:11.the 2014 goals summit demonstrated how significant UK leadership can be

:03:12. > :03:19.in promoting change. -- the Girls Summit. Over 490 signatories were

:03:20. > :03:22.secured for the charter on ending female genital mutilation and child

:03:23. > :03:27.early enforced marriage. Following the summit 18 African and self Asian

:03:28. > :03:32.governments have made commitments to end these practices. National

:03:33. > :03:40.governments in Brazil, Bangladesh, it is Ethiopia, Nepal show the

:03:41. > :03:50.programme was successful inspiring governments and society. We need to

:03:51. > :03:53.make sure commitments made on paper are committed into action on the

:03:54. > :03:56.ground. I wish to highlight to other areas where the UK's pioneering new

:03:57. > :04:00.approaches and leading the way globally. The first is tackling

:04:01. > :04:05.human trafficking. Adult women account for almost half of all human

:04:06. > :04:10.trafficking victims globally and women and girls together account for

:04:11. > :04:16.around 70%. Modern slavery act as made the UK a global leader and we

:04:17. > :04:22.must now use that position to work internationally, to achieve the UN

:04:23. > :04:25.target to eradicate this practice by 2030, preventing sexual violence and

:04:26. > :04:29.conflict is the second area where the UK has made substantial

:04:30. > :04:37.progress. Following the global Summit held in London in June, 2014,

:04:38. > :04:42.dear UK has committed over ?30 million to support projects in

:04:43. > :04:45.Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo, the DRC and others. The UK's team of experts

:04:46. > :04:52.have been deployed more than 80 times overseas where they provide

:04:53. > :04:57.training on how to document and prosecute crimes of sexual violence,

:04:58. > :05:02.how to support survivors and protect civilians from human rights

:05:03. > :05:06.violations. The Department for International Development has both

:05:07. > :05:07.galvanise the international community and provided significant

:05:08. > :05:13.financial resources to tackle violence against women and girls. It

:05:14. > :05:17.now has 23 major programmes with a total budget of 184 million. The

:05:18. > :05:21.independent commission on eight impact reviewed this work earlier

:05:22. > :05:24.this year and I'm pleased to say it gave it its highest rating,

:05:25. > :05:33.something we should all be extremely proud of in this house. Now, as a

:05:34. > :05:37.husband, brother and father. But I contribute, I wish to contribute

:05:38. > :05:42.simply as a human being. Move to speak by the existence of this

:05:43. > :05:47.abhorrent practice that shames our humanity. These are global problems

:05:48. > :05:51.that will need international solutions, different in different

:05:52. > :05:55.jurisdictions. I pay tribute to the Government and its predecessor for

:05:56. > :05:59.the decisive leadership they have shown many of these matters. It is

:06:00. > :06:04.important we continue to build on their landmark achievements. The

:06:05. > :06:09.Istanbul convention offers us a clear opportunity to once again

:06:10. > :06:14.demonstrate our commitment to upholding the rights of women and

:06:15. > :06:20.girls, both in this country and also worry beyond our borders and I am

:06:21. > :06:27.confident the government recognises and will act as soon as possible. I

:06:28. > :06:30.commend the honourable member for her leadership in bringing this Bill

:06:31. > :06:36.before the House today and I will be supporting it in future.

:06:37. > :06:40.Michelle Thompson. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I

:06:41. > :06:44.aim to be fairly brief today. First I would like to commend and thank my

:06:45. > :06:49.honourable friend for bringing this Bill forward. I thought she spoke

:06:50. > :06:53.most eloquently. I did however just briefly want to reference the speech

:06:54. > :06:59.I made last week and may just give some thanks if I could. First to the

:07:00. > :07:02.Speaker 's office and Madam Deputy Speaker, who were very supportive of

:07:03. > :07:09.me and also to my friend and colleague, the member for Kirkcaldy

:07:10. > :07:17.and Cowdenbeath who has been a great support to me. LAUGHTER

:07:18. > :07:23.I am undeserving of any praise but I want to save the inspiration you

:07:24. > :07:31.have given has led my wife, three days ago, to talk first time of her

:07:32. > :07:34.sexual abuse at the age of only six years.

:07:35. > :07:40.It is a great tribute to the honourable lady, that she's done so

:07:41. > :07:44.much for so many people. APPLAUSE Thank you very much for that.

:07:45. > :07:51.But, of course, again I made my position very clear. It's not about

:07:52. > :07:56.this individual here, it's about wider women, and indeed men, who

:07:57. > :08:01.have also been affected by sexual or physical violence. Last weekend I

:08:02. > :08:06.spent most of the weekend personally answering the literally hundreds of

:08:07. > :08:10.e-mails I got, and it was in essence truly humbling, because people, for

:08:11. > :08:15.the first time, were writing their own stories and sharing their own

:08:16. > :08:23.stories. One phrase jumped out at me that somebody said they recognised

:08:24. > :08:26.that black burden that shadows the survivor's back. I thought we need

:08:27. > :08:29.to keep that at the forefront of our minds are all times. This is why we

:08:30. > :08:33.have debates about this, about legislature and so on, because it's

:08:34. > :08:39.about our driving need, our leadership. I commend the honourable

:08:40. > :08:43.member for Salisbury in offering his perspective. It is this driving need

:08:44. > :08:47.for change that we must keep at the forefront of our minds all the time.

:08:48. > :08:55.I would again challenged the Minister, whilst incredibly well,

:08:56. > :08:58.about the spirit of intent, we are looking for hard, specific dates by

:08:59. > :09:04.Wednesday thing will be done, because we need to send a resonance

:09:05. > :09:09.to the wider world, that this is unacceptable. Our culture in many

:09:10. > :09:13.areas of the UK is completely unacceptable. If one thing I learned

:09:14. > :09:20.last weekend reading all these e-mails, was the extent to which

:09:21. > :09:24.these stories go unheard. So again, I would say thank you for

:09:25. > :09:27.everyone who supported me, and I wanted to put it officially on the

:09:28. > :09:32.record, and finally to all those agencies who day in and day out,

:09:33. > :09:36.week in and week out, month in an month out for their support to

:09:37. > :09:39.people who are in the most difficult of circumstances. Thank you, Madam

:09:40. > :09:48.Deputy Speaker. Rebecca Harris. I would also like to

:09:49. > :09:51.give my gratitude to the honourable lady for bringing the debate today

:09:52. > :09:56.are pleased to say I am supporting this Bill and the Government will be

:09:57. > :09:58.supporting this Bill, not because I think this government is

:09:59. > :10:04.insufficiently committed to this agenda I think it will set an

:10:05. > :10:06.example to other countries by us ratifying it in due course. Adding

:10:07. > :10:14.this government has done an enormous amount in the last few years, to

:10:15. > :10:17.combat violence against women and children, domestically and abroad. I

:10:18. > :10:21.was very pleased to hear the honourable lady from Birmingham even

:10:22. > :10:25.saying this government had done a great deal in this area, as one of

:10:26. > :10:30.the toughest opponents of this government. Praise from her means

:10:31. > :10:35.we're not doing too badly at all! That's not to say we should in any

:10:36. > :10:40.way get complacent with the work we do in tackling violence abroad or

:10:41. > :10:44.domestically. Because as we know, two women are murdered every week in

:10:45. > :10:48.this country by their partner or ex-partner and one of those with

:10:49. > :10:52.sadly my constituent last year, Kelly Pierce. Whenever I am asked by

:10:53. > :10:56.a journalist or a member of the public how I fear for my own safety

:10:57. > :11:00.after the horrendous murder of Jo Cox, I always reply to them that

:11:01. > :11:02.statistically I am still more at risk as a woman from a partner or

:11:03. > :11:12.ex-partner in this country. It is a fact we cannot stress

:11:13. > :11:20.enough. The honourable member from Shipley was very eloquent. But I

:11:21. > :11:29.think even he will recognise that it puts an enormous strain on our

:11:30. > :11:33.police, social care services, health system, it hurts our economy and it

:11:34. > :11:38.damages the lives of those children and -- those women and their

:11:39. > :11:42.children. If we look at the economic and social effects, there is an

:11:43. > :11:47.argument for the government doing more tracking violence and its wider

:11:48. > :11:50.social costs. I have taken part in the excellent police Parliamentary

:11:51. > :11:56.scheme in recent months and it has been an eye-opener. The police do

:11:57. > :12:04.incredible work. I have worked with various departments, including Essex

:12:05. > :12:07.police's domestic violence unit. Essex County Council suggested the

:12:08. > :12:12.real picture of domestic abuse is likely to be closer to 125,000

:12:13. > :12:22.incidents a year. The majority are not reported. Stigma still exists.

:12:23. > :12:28.That is why I am very pleased that the Juno team is investigating every

:12:29. > :12:32.allegation brought to them and are doing incredibly well in

:12:33. > :12:35.successfully identify the perpetrators. That has led to a huge

:12:36. > :12:40.increase in the number of people being charged for domestic violence

:12:41. > :12:46.and sexual abuse. I have no doubt that much of this is due to the

:12:47. > :12:50.legislative changes brought in in this House, whether stalking

:12:51. > :12:56.legislation, Claire's law or revenge pornography. It is also down to the

:12:57. > :13:01.fact that we have increased resources for the police in this

:13:02. > :13:05.area. Essex police have invested significantly in media awareness

:13:06. > :13:07.campaigns and incorporated domestic abuse into their performance

:13:08. > :13:14.framework. There has been an investment in training so that

:13:15. > :13:18.officers and support staff are of -- aware of their responsibilities. But

:13:19. > :13:22.Essex police acknowledge they cannot and domestic abuse in Essex only by

:13:23. > :13:25.themselves, which is why they are working very closely with other

:13:26. > :13:30.organisations. Including Essex County Council. There are some

:13:31. > :13:35.fantastic awareness campaigns. I would like to draw the attention of

:13:36. > :13:41.members to the change project, which is being run jointly by Essex County

:13:42. > :13:48.Council, the Essex police, Thurrock and Southend cancels, the NHS and

:13:49. > :13:52.the change project. It is aimed at encouraging abusers to reflect on

:13:53. > :13:54.their behaviour. The honourable member for Shipley will be pleased

:13:55. > :14:00.to know there are many examples in this campaign of asking women

:14:01. > :14:03.abusers to reflect on their abuse towards men and other female

:14:04. > :14:10.perpetrators, so it is gender balance. It is a superb campaign and

:14:11. > :14:16.I would like to commend it. I think we should be very pleased that more

:14:17. > :14:21.victims are coming forward. They are reporting domestic violence. Numbers

:14:22. > :14:26.being up should not be seen as a sign of failure but the fact we are

:14:27. > :14:30.getting the message across. More people are willing to come forward.

:14:31. > :14:34.I would like to cover the matter of domestic abuse in the workplace,

:14:35. > :14:38.which remains a serious problem. About 75% of people who enjoy

:14:39. > :14:44.domestic violence are targeted at work. It may be harassment by phone,

:14:45. > :14:47.text or stalking, or might even turning up the place of work.

:14:48. > :15:01.Domestic violence in the workplace makes it very difficult for

:15:02. > :15:04.employers. -- employees. Workplaces need to understand better the

:15:05. > :15:07.problem is that their staff could be suffering in terms of domestic

:15:08. > :15:13.abuse, which may be causing them not to be able to fulfil their work

:15:14. > :15:18.duties. Too often we hear of them -- victims of domestic abuse losing

:15:19. > :15:21.their jobs because it is not understood or recognised at work,

:15:22. > :15:26.which leaves them more vulnerable and isolated. That is why I thought

:15:27. > :15:30.I would draw attention to members that as a result of an initiative by

:15:31. > :15:34.Elizabeth Phil can, the House of Commons is running a joint

:15:35. > :15:42.initiative with the corporate alliance against domestic violence,

:15:43. > :15:49.to raise awareness among employers of how to tackle domestic abuse in

:15:50. > :15:53.the workplace. I know we are short on time. I would like to end by

:15:54. > :15:58.saying I know this government is serious about tackling this problem.

:15:59. > :16:03.I hope the changes we are making a rapidly making it better for women

:16:04. > :16:05.who suffer domestic abuse and that it will be reported more confidently

:16:06. > :16:13.in the future. Margaret Greenwood. Thank you, Madam

:16:14. > :16:16.Deputy Speaker. I would like to congratulate the member for Banff

:16:17. > :16:20.and Buchan for bringing this bill to the House. I would like to pay

:16:21. > :16:33.particular attention to the issue of domestic violence in relation to

:16:34. > :16:36.women with disabilities. It means properly funded support through

:16:37. > :16:41.refuges, Health and Social Care Bill, legal counselling, housing,

:16:42. > :16:44.education, training assistance and in finding employment. In the case

:16:45. > :16:50.of domestic violence, access to services is vital. According to

:16:51. > :16:57.women's aid, in the past four years there has been a reduction of bed

:16:58. > :17:03.spaces of over 200. The estimated capacity requirement is at least

:17:04. > :17:05.5000 spaces. Furthermore, it also reports the local authorities

:17:06. > :17:10.commissioners frequently favour generic providers who may not

:17:11. > :17:17.provide the expert support needed. The need for specialist services is

:17:18. > :17:21.particularly acute in the case of disabled women who may face

:17:22. > :17:25.different challenges in terms of seeking help. Disabled women are

:17:26. > :17:28.twice as likely to experience domestic violence as non-disabled

:17:29. > :17:32.women, which is a stock -- shocking statistics. Disabled women are also

:17:33. > :17:36.more likely to experience abuse over a long period of time and suffer

:17:37. > :17:40.severe injuries as a result of violence, often because of the

:17:41. > :17:42.difficulty of escaping and finding alternative accommodation. It is

:17:43. > :17:47.likely that overall rates of domestic violence, sorry, domestic

:17:48. > :17:52.abuse, are much higher than reported, and the rates of domestic

:17:53. > :18:00.abuse reported by disabled people are greater. The risk factors are

:18:01. > :18:04.lower educational attainment, unemployment and poverty. Yet we

:18:05. > :18:09.also know this is suffered by people of all genders and class. Domestic

:18:10. > :18:12.violence is caused by one person's desire to exert power and control

:18:13. > :18:16.over their partner. Disabled people are more likely to be more

:18:17. > :18:24.physically vulnerable to abuse. Abusers can include carers. Often

:18:25. > :18:28.the disability or impairment is exploited by the abuser. Domestic

:18:29. > :18:32.abuse of a disabled person can take specific forms, such as a partner

:18:33. > :18:37.with holding vital care, medication or food, they may damage equipment

:18:38. > :18:42.in order to limit the person's independence. If someone has a

:18:43. > :18:45.visual impairment, a partner may create obstacles around the home.

:18:46. > :18:50.The abuser may claim disability benefits on their behalf and limit

:18:51. > :18:56.our access to funds. And the abuser may use her disability to criticise

:18:57. > :19:02.or humiliate her or threaten to tell social services she is not fit to

:19:03. > :19:07.live alone. She raises an important issue around

:19:08. > :19:13.the person controlling finance. In supporting the bill today, members

:19:14. > :19:19.will sport -- support specifically disabled women.

:19:20. > :19:23.The gentleman makes overly important point. It can be much more difficult

:19:24. > :19:27.for somebody who is disabled to communicate what they are suffering

:19:28. > :19:34.and also escape from their abuser. People with severe sensory,

:19:35. > :19:36.cognitive issues or mental health issues, may have particular

:19:37. > :19:41.difficulty communicating they have been abused. Disabled people may be

:19:42. > :19:45.more socially isolated as a result of their disability and more

:19:46. > :19:52.dependent on their partner or other carers. This can also -- often

:19:53. > :19:56.include older people. A disabled person may have few chances to

:19:57. > :19:58.attend appointments alone and may have few opportunities to tell

:19:59. > :20:03.people about the abuse. The government has allocated funding for

:20:04. > :20:07.early intervention. In the case of disabled people, it is important to

:20:08. > :20:09.recognise it may be especially difficult for someone to come

:20:10. > :20:14.forward and report abuse for practical reasons or for the abuse

:20:15. > :20:19.to come delight at an early stage. Some disabled women may feel

:20:20. > :20:22.particularly nervous about leaving their partner. They may also worry

:20:23. > :20:27.about who will care for them if they move away or a change to their care

:20:28. > :20:31.package that could leave them with less support. Women with disabled

:20:32. > :20:33.children may be more hesitant in seeking help because they are

:20:34. > :20:37.concerned about the child's health care and the emotional impact on the

:20:38. > :20:43.child. That is why it is important that funding is not cut for domestic

:20:44. > :20:47.refuges by capping allowances. After leaving refuge providers with great

:20:48. > :20:50.uncertainty while carrying out a prolonged review, the government has

:20:51. > :20:55.at last announced that refugees will be exempt from the local allowance

:20:56. > :20:59.capped for those in social housing until 2019, when the new funding

:21:00. > :21:03.model comes in. I would urge the government to work closely with

:21:04. > :21:09.specialist providers to design the system which will be introduced

:21:10. > :21:13.after 2019, to give particular attention to the needs of disabled

:21:14. > :21:19.women. I urge the government to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

:21:20. > :21:24.Can I thank the honourable member for Banff and Buchan per bringing

:21:25. > :21:28.forward this Private Members' Bill and I will be supporting it. Can I

:21:29. > :21:34.also start by commending the work of the Home Office, not least because

:21:35. > :21:40.every time I have raised specific issues to do with domestic violence,

:21:41. > :21:44.specifically to do with LB GT or religious groups, I found that the

:21:45. > :21:48.Prime Minister, when she was home Secretary, was not just on the

:21:49. > :21:54.button but also abroad through significant change. Also, the

:21:55. > :21:57.Secretary of State for International the button. I have to say that

:21:58. > :22:00.department has been at the forefront globally of tackling the issue of

:22:01. > :22:07.women and girls, especially violence to women and girls. I do believe by

:22:08. > :22:13.ratifying the convention it allows us to tackle a major socialist you

:22:14. > :22:16.across the whole of the world. But I wanted to speak about a particular

:22:17. > :22:25.is you as chairman of the all-party group on HIV AIDS. HIV AIDS remains

:22:26. > :22:28.the biggest killer of women and girls of reproduction AIDS. And yet

:22:29. > :22:34.within that, we often don't talk about the consequences or sexual

:22:35. > :22:38.violence against women. Often the taboo of sexual violence against

:22:39. > :22:44.women has a hidden taboo. That is the HIV infection caused by that

:22:45. > :22:51.forced sexual violence of rape or just conversion. -- courage in. --

:22:52. > :23:03.courage. Well sexual violence is vastly

:23:04. > :23:09.underrepresented as an HIV risk, it is -- it is a risk we need to talk

:23:10. > :23:14.about. Sexual violence and force may increase the susceptibility to HIV

:23:15. > :23:18.insofar as nonconsensual sex is associated with increased risk

:23:19. > :23:27.through the journal and anal trauma. I make no apology for using rather

:23:28. > :23:33.crude and what some people may see as rather distasteful references to

:23:34. > :23:39.vagina and anal penetration. I say it because too often we use

:23:40. > :23:42.euphemisms in this place when actually we forget about the real

:23:43. > :23:48.trauma that is involved and the actual pain and suffering that is

:23:49. > :23:56.involved. The prevalence of sexual violence, including mass rape,

:23:57. > :24:05.increases the likelihood of STIs and HIV. It may be only a small internal

:24:06. > :24:09.injury to facilitate transmission. I say that again because it is

:24:10. > :24:16.important we call the issue out for what it is. This is not a slap. This

:24:17. > :24:19.is not something that we see semi-glorified on soaps. This has to

:24:20. > :24:26.be tackled in detail and in some gruesome detail if we are genuinely

:24:27. > :24:32.to understand the life changing and irreversible changes to the women

:24:33. > :24:37.are affected by sexual violence. And if it is going to be a major risk,

:24:38. > :24:46.we have two say that rape is a weapon of law. Too often in this

:24:47. > :24:50.place we talk about the Jets and bombs, but we forget to talk about

:24:51. > :24:57.rape, one of the biggest weapons of war. It is not just in wars owns in

:24:58. > :25:00.those unstable regions and villages that the creased security

:25:01. > :25:04.contributes to higher prevalence of opportunistic sexual violence. Given

:25:05. > :25:11.those high levels of sexual violence occurring in conflicts, we have to

:25:12. > :25:15.recognise that HIV is an unspoken impact of that sexual violence. And

:25:16. > :25:22.there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that even when the war is

:25:23. > :25:28.over, that sexual violence does not disappear. Even when the peace

:25:29. > :25:33.agreement are assigned for sexual violence -- be sexual violence

:25:34. > :25:38.continues. It is not just rape as a weapon of war. It is when women are

:25:39. > :25:44.seeking to put food on the table, it is when women are seeking to get

:25:45. > :25:49.safe passage from a village under bombardment, that they may have to

:25:50. > :25:51.trade their body to get through to clothing, to get to a place of

:25:52. > :26:01.safety. That is rape in everything cool

:26:02. > :26:04.sense. I have to say to the House at that level of violence is

:26:05. > :26:08.underreported and something we need to call out. -- in every sense. I

:26:09. > :26:14.know we are short of time and people may well want to talk, but I wanted

:26:15. > :26:20.to talk about that particular issue of HIV, because rape in many of

:26:21. > :26:27.these countries, a woman who is raped and violated suffers from

:26:28. > :26:31.stigma. A woman who is raped and violated an HIV-positive is even

:26:32. > :26:34.more isolated, more stigmatised and often thrown out and isolated, not

:26:35. > :26:39.just from their family but from their villages and their

:26:40. > :26:45.communities. If we are going to break that cycle of sexual violence

:26:46. > :26:48.and HIV infection, then we have to ratify this convention and send a

:26:49. > :26:56.message today that we want to see it done quickly. Thank you.

:26:57. > :27:01.Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I'm grateful to be able to contribute on

:27:02. > :27:06.the subject of the ratification of the thing-macro. I would like to

:27:07. > :27:12.start by congratulating my honourable friend for bringing this

:27:13. > :27:21.particular Bill forward. I was disappointed not to be on the ballot

:27:22. > :27:31.myself but glad to debate this very important issue. Many have played an

:27:32. > :27:38.important part in this and deserve our thanks. Becker, Rachel and

:27:39. > :27:41.Robin, and if I'm allowed to say this, I'd say they are in the

:27:42. > :27:48.gallery today watching, but I'm not allowed to say that, so I won't!

:27:49. > :27:55.LAUGHTER The volunteers who work hard and

:27:56. > :28:00.impressed every member of this house to make sure they're aware of this

:28:01. > :28:06.convention and the positive affect this ratification of the convention

:28:07. > :28:12.would have. Violence against women and girls is not a political issue

:28:13. > :28:19.and we should be united in the pursuit to end the violence.

:28:20. > :28:23.Domestic abuse is deep-rooted and women are far more likely to

:28:24. > :28:29.experience domestic abuse, which brings me to the member for

:28:30. > :28:33.honourable Shipley. Madam Deputy Speaker, sometimes I question

:28:34. > :28:42.whether or not I am from the same species from the honourable member.

:28:43. > :28:51.He brought up domestic violence to men. All violence is shameful, but

:28:52. > :28:58.most violence to men is by men, which is the point of today's

:28:59. > :29:04.proceedings. I would hope the honourable member's attitude isn't

:29:05. > :29:11.shared by as many of this chamber. We would like to live in a world

:29:12. > :29:16.where nobody is affected by violence against them. Violence happens

:29:17. > :29:20.primarily on... Yes, I will give away. Grateful to my honourable

:29:21. > :29:24.friend for giving way. The honourable member referred to

:29:25. > :29:30.women's refuge services earlier, and as an ambassador for women's

:29:31. > :29:34.Inverness aide, I have seen the great work they have done to get

:29:35. > :29:38.women back on track. Does he think refuges should be protected in the

:29:39. > :29:41.way that was described earlier? Absolutely, I couldn't agree with my

:29:42. > :29:50.honourable friend more. We have heard many of the support systems

:29:51. > :29:58.refuges offer. A new refuges being built in Renfrewshire at Jubilee

:29:59. > :30:03.house, but his point is well made. On the point of refuges and given

:30:04. > :30:06.where we are in the year, coming the Christmas period, I'm sure my

:30:07. > :30:15.honourable friend will agree with me, it is like Christmas we see most

:30:16. > :30:20.domestic violence happening at home. Can we wish all the women and girls

:30:21. > :30:26.at home saves Christmas and all the refuges and support they need. My

:30:27. > :30:33.honourable friend makes a fantastic point and it's a point I made last

:30:34. > :30:36.year before Christmas, in highlighting the increased incidence

:30:37. > :30:40.of abuse around Christmas time. The honourable member's point was well

:30:41. > :30:48.made and I totally agree with what she said. The stark reality is a

:30:49. > :30:52.third of women will face violence in their lifetime. That is the

:30:53. > :30:56.motivation for me in working towards ending the violence and

:30:57. > :31:01.psychological abuse too many women face in their lifetime. The Istanbul

:31:02. > :31:06.Convention aims to tackle violence against women on a number of fronts,

:31:07. > :31:12.prevention, protection, support, monitoring and persecution. It

:31:13. > :31:18.establishes a link between advocating equality between men and

:31:19. > :31:25.women. As long as inequalities exist, abuse will present continue.

:31:26. > :31:28.That is why I am keen on article 14, stressing the importance of

:31:29. > :31:32.education. All governments should put teaching issues such as equality

:31:33. > :31:38.between women and men, mutual respect, non-violent conflict

:31:39. > :31:43.resolution and interpersonal relationships, and the right to

:31:44. > :31:46.personal integrity. I am passionate about this point and believe it

:31:47. > :31:51.provides an ideal opportunity to introduce a coherent structure and

:31:52. > :31:58.consistent prevention programme in our schools. I think this is the

:31:59. > :32:02.real missing link in gender-based violence chain in the UK. Very

:32:03. > :32:07.briefly. ... Excellent speech. Would he agree

:32:08. > :32:13.with me that the key problem here is really about men? Men perpetrating

:32:14. > :32:18.violence, and the key responsibility on all of us who are men, and women,

:32:19. > :32:23.to talk with other men about how it is completely unacceptable to use

:32:24. > :32:27.violence and abuse towards women and they must rise to the plate and

:32:28. > :32:35.speak out, become ambassadors for White ribbon and otherwise and

:32:36. > :32:38.breach not just the ignorant men and unconverted who continue in our land

:32:39. > :32:45.and across the world to perpetrate this unnecessary violence? I don't

:32:46. > :32:48.think he was addressing that to the honourable member of Shipley when he

:32:49. > :32:54.said that. He mentioned white ribbon and he's right to bring that up. I

:32:55. > :33:02.would urge all members of this house to take that White Ribbon pledge.

:33:03. > :33:05.Will my honourable friend give way? Very briefly. I would like to

:33:06. > :33:09.congratulate him and his colleagues are bringing forward this Bill.

:33:10. > :33:14.Would he agree with me that in so doing the Government needs to bring

:33:15. > :33:17.forward the ratification of this convention as quickly as possible,

:33:18. > :33:24.to prevent further incidents of abuse against women, as the one that

:33:25. > :33:28.took place against my constituent two weeks ago, where she has been

:33:29. > :33:33.left on a life-support machine? I couldn't agree more. That is a

:33:34. > :33:38.shameful story my colleague has just spoken of. That's the important

:33:39. > :33:41.thing about this Bill my honourable friend's interviews. It forces the

:33:42. > :33:46.Government to take this action, which throughout the piece they have

:33:47. > :33:53.promised to do but haven't found the energy to do so, which I will come

:33:54. > :33:55.on in a moment. As I was talking Article 14 and education, it also

:33:56. > :34:02.sets out how these principles should be embedded in things like sports

:34:03. > :34:13.clubs, cultural centres and leisure facilities. This is where the White

:34:14. > :34:19.ribbon campaign comes in. They also use mail ambassadors to act as role

:34:20. > :34:24.models to young boys. If we can eliminate sexist behaviour at an

:34:25. > :34:30.early age, instil a sense of respect in boys, we can help prevent some of

:34:31. > :34:36.them in turning to gender-based violence later in life. The UK

:34:37. > :34:41.Government signed up to Istanbul Convention, but ratifying it is long

:34:42. > :34:45.overdue. It's been just under a year since I first wrote to the then Home

:34:46. > :34:51.Secretary, now Prime Minister, asking her to ratify the convention.