PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Tackling Violence against Women and Girls - 9 September 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

We are driving action across Government to deliver our landmark commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. That includes the national roll-out of our life-changing domestic abuse protection orders across England and Wales, setting up pilots in schools to tackle harmful behaviours and delivering a flagship GP referral programme in England to better support victims.

Tomorrow is World Suicide Prevention Day. Given the well-established links between domestic abuse, coercive control and suicide, does the Minister agree that organisations such as Project Salama in my constituency, which provides joined-up support to victims of DA, are important? How will the Government ensure that domestic abuse services, mental health services and the suicide prevention strategy work together?

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this vital point, and my thoughts are with everyone tomorrow recognising the day tomorrow. The Law Commission is looking at the links between suicide and domestic abuse, we are working with the Office of the Chief Coroner to formally establish a pathway, and we are also working with brilliant organisations, such as the one from the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, that support bereaved families and individuals.

I welcome the Government’s accelerated roll-out of specialist police rape and sexual offence teams. Will the Minister consider what more help can be given upstream through relationships and sex education so that young people know where to seek help after sexual assault? Willow Tree sexual assault referral centre, which is in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Pat McFadden), provides specialist support and enables young people in Wolverhampton and Willenhall to self-refer. Will the Minister work with police, schools and sexual assault referral centres to ensure that young people know support is available?

Absolutely. Prevention is at the heart of our flagship strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. That is why we are working on healthy relationship guidance so that all children can understand where to get help and what is an important relationship in their lives. Secondary pupils will be given information on where to report abuse and seek medical attention when required. Just yesterday, I got to witness that in person in Colchester at the Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse—a fantastic organisation that helps young people to rebuild their lives following sexual violence.

More than 100 organisations have warned the Government that their early release scheme will put women and girls at increased risk. Can the Minister explain to the House and to those organisations how the scheme will help her to halve violence against women and girls?

We have had to put the early release scheme in place to ensure that our criminal justice system is able to function and help all victims, regardless of the type of crime. I regularly meet with all the organisations mentioned in that letter to discuss what protections we can best put in place. He will know that we have increased funding to support victim support services, and there will be a presumption on tagging on release. We are introducing world-first restriction zones to ensure that victims no longer have to constantly look over their shoulder, wondering where their perpetrator is. We are also working on timely communication to ensure that we keep victims and survivors informed, and they can feed in directly to licensing conditions. I will happily discuss this matter with him further if he wishes.

On 30 June, the then Secretary of State for Justice made a very welcome and vital commitment in this Chamber to close the 10-year sentencing gap, ensuring that domestic homicides are treated with the same severity as other murders. Does the Minister agree that we must hear the same commitment from the current Secretary of State and see a clear timetable for implementation so that we can achieve our goal of halving violence against women and girls?

I am happy to reiterate that commitment at the Dispatch Box today. I pay tribute to the Killed Women campaign, which has fought long and hard to secure this change. We will introduce a new 25-year starting point for domestic murders applying to anyone who murders their current or former intimate partner, and we will bring forward the change as soon as parliamentary time allows.

To tackle violence against women and girls, does the hon. Lady agree that men entering this country illegally from countries such as Eritrea, Afghanistan and Sudan pose a direct threat to the safety of British women and girls?

I welcome the hon. Lady to her place, and I look forward to working with her on tackling violence against women and girls. This issue should not be party political or involve any borders, and the answer to tackling it includes us all. Our flagship strategy on tackling violence against women and girls is to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls, wherever it occurs and by whomever.

I know that the Minister is a wonderful champion for women, but does she agree that men who enter Britain illegally and need a leaflet to ask them not to rape women and girls should instead be deported immediately?

Deportations of those who commit crimes in this country are up significantly under this Government—we are taking that direct action. I would say to the hon. Lady that anyone who commits crimes against women and girls should expect the full force of the law, and they will face it. We are seeking to educate everyone on what is acceptable in our country, because those are our British values.

Last month, BBC news reported on a woman who discovered only by fluke that the man she was in a relationship with was a registered sex offender, after he was summoned to court over an assault charge under a different name. While the law allows police to block a sex offender’s request to change their name, it does not require them to. Women, campaigners and safeguarding groups all say that this is not good enough. Will the Minister work with Home Office colleagues to close this loophole, so that sex offenders are prevented by default from changing their name and police are required to individually approve each request?

I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for raising this issue. She will know that great strides have been made in this campaign, including by my hon. Friend—my good friend—the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion). I will happily meet with the hon. Lady to discuss this further to see what more we need to do to protect women and girls, and all children, from these heinous crimes.