Protecting the Public and Justice for Victims — 9 Jun 2021 at 18:40

The majority of MPs voted to set up more temporary courts, and for a wide range of policing and justice related measures focused on protecting women and girls including increased sentences for rape and action to support victims of domestic abuse.

The motion supported by a majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That this House
• regrets the unprecedented backlog of more than 57,000 Crown Court cases, as well as record low convictions for rape and a collapse in convictions for all serious crime;
• calls on the Government to set up more Nightingale Courts, to enshrine victims’ rights in law and to introduce the proposals set out in Labour’s ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ Green Paper; and
• further calls on the Secretary of State for Justice to update the House in person on progress made in reducing the court backlog by 22 July.

Labour’s ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ Green Paper^[1] stated included proposals for:

• * increased sentences for rape, stalking and domestic murder – as well as introducing whole life tariffs for those who rape, abduct and murder a stranger
• * new statutory minimum sentence (with exceptions for exceptional circumstances) of seven years for rape
• * statutory defences for victims of domestic abuse who may have been coerced into committing certain crimes
• * a new street sexual harassment offence
• * recording misogyny as a hate crime and including sex and gender in the list of protected characteristics in hate crime laws
• * creating a new offence of offering 'sex for rent'
• * increasing the maximum sentence for publishing the identity of a sexual offences complainant from a £5,000 fine to two years in prison.
• * ensuring all criminal justice professionals dealing with rape victims are trained in trauma-informed practice on rape myths and stereotypes
• * mandatory training for the judiciary in the family court to increase understanding of domestic abuse.
• * expanding the use and functions of Specialist Domestic Violence Courts.
• * free and independent legal advice and representation for victims of sexual offences
• * access to legal aid in domestic abuse cases was offered without reference to capital or income-based means testing.
• * a minimum provision of Rape and Serious Sexual Assault Offence (RASSO) units in police forces
• * preventing police forces sharing details of migrant victims of domestic abuse with the Home Office
• * serial domestic abusers and stalkers to be monitored under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and via the Sexual Offenders Register.
• * removal of the presumption that a parent should have contact with their child when domestic abuse to the child or other parent has occurred.
• * prohibition of unsupervised contact with their children for a parent awaiting trial or on bail for domestic abuse offences, or where there are ongoing criminal proceedings for domestic abuse
• * accreditation of centres for parents who don't live with their children to meet their children
• * creation of a specific ministerial position with oversight for rape and sexual violence survivors
• * a duty on all relevant public authorities to commission specialist domestic abuse support services for all persons affected by domestic abuse
• * granting enhanced housing benefit to providers of 'exempt accommodation' targeted at domestic abuse victims and ensure that unscrupulous providers or landlords cannot profit from the provision of substandard or inappropriate accommodation.
• * introducing specific funding streams to support specialist services for migrant victims, Black, Asian and ethnic minority victims, LGBT+ victims and disabled victims including providing accessible information and support, for example using different languages, brail and BSL.
• * training for teachers to help identify, respond to and support child victims of domestic abuse
• * collecting national data on sexual harassment across schools and colleges
• * ending the two-child limit for child tax credit and replacing Universal Credit

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• [1] Labour’s ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ Green Paper, Labour.org.uk

Debate in Parliament |