PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CURBING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (12 January 1999)

That this House deplores the unacceptable level of violence against women, and believes that a thorough review of civil and criminal law is needed to ensure that violent men are prevented from tracing their former partners and then assaulting and killing them; believes that this should include a strengthening of police powers and court sanctions when injunctions are broken, and that there should be a robust policy of arrest and prosecution under the criminal law, an end to the routine bailing of men for breach of the peace, and an end to the down-grading of charges through plea bargaining; supports the implementation of domestic violence awareness training for all those working within the justice system, including family law solicitors and the judiciary; recognises the need to restrict access by violent partners to information about the location of women through court proceedings and the provisions of the Children Act 1989; and accepts that men who abuse women forgo their right to access.

Sponsored by:
Andrew George (Liberal Democrat)