Domestic Abuse: Victims and Survivors

Motion to Take Note

Moved by

That this House takes note of the need to eliminate domestic abuse, and to support victims and survivors.

My Lords, I felt this was a timely moment to bring this debate to our Chamber. We have just had 16 days of action—which started with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ran through until Human Rights Day on 10 December—as part of a campaign that seeks to end violence against women. Last month, a documentary by Her Majesty the Queen, “Behind Closed Doors”, aired on television, telling the harrowing experiences of women subjected to domestic abuse, with victims including an MP and a police chief inspector braving speaking to the camera.

There is to be a review on the law of homicide and last week Jess Phillips launched a pilot for the new domestic abuse protection order. We must not forget that Christmas often brings an increase in calls to the police reporting cases of domestic violence. Financial pressure and increased alcohol can lead to outbursts and this in a period with fewer opportunities to report or to escape to safety.

According to the 2021 Act, domestic abuse is where the victim and perpetrator are

“16 or over and are personally connected to each other”

and

“it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct”.

Domestic abuse is defined as an incident or pattern of incidents of any of the following: controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading or violent behaviour, including sexual violence, and economic abuse.

The origins of the present Act can be traced back to the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 which aimed to protect battered wives. To me, that does not seem that long ago and all of us, I am sure, can remember watching Punch and Judy on the beach or reading Andy Capp, where domestic violence was seen as humour. Thank goodness, to most of us, that is not the case today.

In the majority of cases, domestic violence is carried out by a partner, an ex-partner or a family member or parent. This heinous, devastating crime can be experienced by anyone, regardless of race, ethnic or religious group, sexuality, class or disability. If you know three women or seven men, statistics suggest that you know one who has experienced some kind of partner abuse or violence.

Last year, there were 2.4 million victims—1.7 million women and 699,000 men—picked up by the data, but we know that it is on the increase, with almost certainly more victims than I have mentioned. Women are more likely to be victims and 95% of those contacting services are women. In a survey, it was found that police received domestic-related calls every 30 seconds.

Women should never feel that it is safer to stay with a man than to leave him but, according to the Femicide Census, 38% of women killed by an ex-partner were killed within the first month of separation and 89% within the first year. A 2023 NHS survey stated how domestic violence escalates in pregnancy, with one in three pregnant women experiencing some kind of domestic abuse. Domestic violence is more common than any other health problem among women during pregnancy.

My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of the advisory council of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, for bringing this timely debate to our Chamber and thank her for setting out so ably the extent and horror of the domestic abuse that sadly takes place across our country today.

I will make a number of quick points to the Government about how we are dealing with domestic abuse. My first is about the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It is important that we see the full aspects of that Act implemented as quickly as possible. It is very good that the Government have announced pilot schemes for the application of domestic abuse protection notices and domestic abuse protection orders. It is important to learn from those pilots, but the sooner the DAPNs and DAPOs are in place across the country the more victims will be protected.

My second point is that, while it is absolutely right that we should consider, think of and have concern for the victims of domestic abuse, there is another aspect which we all too often overlook—the impact it has on our economy. There are many people who are the victims of domestic abuse who on some days will simply not feel able to go into their workplace, but who are unable to talk to their employer about what is happening to them and unable to get the support that they need.

That brings me to my final point—the role that employers can play in dealing with domestic abuse and supporting those who are the victims. I mentioned my connection with the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse, set up by the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Elizabeth Filkin. It does very good work with employers, but it is important to encourage employers to set an environment in which those of their employees who are victims of domestic abuse are able to come forward and feel able to admit what is happening to them, so they can be signposted to support, but also so they can feel that the workplace is a safe environment for them. It becomes more difficult when the perpetrator is also an employee in the same workplace. But an enlightened employer, with the right advice and the right support, can also ensure that that situation is managed carefully.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, for securing this important debate and for such an eloquent, powerful and well-researched opening speech. Domestic abuse is a stain on our society; it not only kills women but scars their children and perpetuates a cycle of pain and violence. We have all been heartbroken by the case of Sara Sharif, which we have seen in the past few days. We know this: that violent and controlling men do not just beat women—they often beat their own children.

All of us across the House want to tackle this issue, and I, too, pay tribute to the many brilliant women’s organisations in the sector. I pay tribute particularly to Women’s Aid, which has just marked its 50th anniversary. These organisations do excellent work, giving voice to women who often feel that the world and every public institution has failed them. They listen to these women and, most importantly, they believe them—women like Claire Throssell MBE. Claire had a violent partner. She told the court that her ex-husband was capable of hurting her children. He told her that he would, to punish her, and in 2014, during an unsupervised contact visit, he killed her sons, Paul and Jack. In her own words:

“It took just 15 minutes for my life to end and my existence to begin”.

That did not need to happen, and so many of the relentless tragedies that we shed a tear over do not need to happen if we listen to victims and we listen to women like Claire.

I hope that this new Government will listen to the victims. They have got off to a good start, and there are many good champions within the Government, particularly the honourable Jess Phillips, MP. But we need a system that is designed for victims, particularly women and children. At the moment, it feels like the whole system—from the family courts to the police, the criminal justice system and the Child Maintenance Service—exists to grind women down and exhaust them with all the bureaucracy and expense, and to punish them again and again.

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness for securing this debate. The Prime Minster has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within 10 years. At the moment, police receive one call every minute about domestic abuse. If the Government achieve their aim of cutting this by half within 10 years, that means the police will receive one call every two minutes about domestic violence. This is not going to give comfort to the 2 million women who, every year, are victims of male violence, because this scourge on our society accounts for around one-fifth of all murders, as well as a rising number of suspected victim suicides.

Yet, the scale of this problem is still not widely understood, and exposure to extreme porn and misogyny is pushing violence against women to epidemic proportions. Criminal justice is not the whole answer; our justice system must step up and do much better for victims.

Domestic abuse happens in relationships and is often complex, yet too many police first responders are still failing to identify what offences have occurred and to respond appropriately. Too many still minimise the risk and harm experienced, failing to understand why a woman might have little choice but to stay with her abuser.

We welcome the Government’s new protection orders, but if the police do not get that first call right, opportunities to impose them will continue to be missed. Currently, orders are rarely used and poorly enforced. This must change, with specialists embedded with front-line officers to build victims’ trust and identify what type of order, if any, is appropriate.

Then, there is the absolute scandal of court backlogs. Domestic abuse hearings are currently being listed more than two years ahead, but most victims do not remain in the process for two months, let alone two years. Almost half withdraw within five days of reporting an incident, and the majority drop out before a charge is even filed. Recognising this, one police force recently piloted a programme to get all domestic abuse cases before court within two weeks, many within 72 hours. Women were turning up with black eyes, and the early guilty plea rate was remarkable. But without enough court space, sadly, the pilot was cut short.

I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, for securing this debate. I declare my interest as CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK. I shall focus on four points: funding, domestic homicide rates among minority ethnic women, spiritual abuse, and transnational abandonment.

No funding was pledged to tackle domestic abuse in the last Budget, which was surprising given Labour’s manifesto commitment to reduce violence against women and girls by 50%. The current funding crisis and the rise in employer national insurance will result in many women’s organisations scaling back their services, taking away vital support for domestic abuse victims. Can the Minister provide assurance that the next Budget will announce funding to tackle domestic abuse?

Domestic homicide rates for minority ethnic women are around 22% higher. This issue can be addressed only if we know why it is happening. Will the Government agree to carry out a public consultation exercise to find out what the contributing factors are to the higher rates? This will help to save lives.

Spiritual abuse is not legally defined and is not limited to abuse by faith leaders. It is also a form of domestic abuse, where families and partners may misuse religion to control and manipulate women and children in particular. A legal definition could help to better recognise this form of abuse and hold perpetrators to account. Will the Government consider having a legal definition of spiritual abuse? Will the Minister write to me about the number of spiritual abuse cases recorded by the police in the last five years?

Transnational abandonment is another form of domestic abuse. This is when—usually—a husband takes his wife abroad on the pretence of a holiday and leaves her there, sometimes with children. The wife is usually on a spousal visa waiting for indefinite leave to remain. Helplines such as the one that I run are then left to apply for documents and pay for flights to get the women and children back into the UK. In the first six months of 2024, there were 28 transnational abandonment cases.

My Lords, may I make a brief intervention to suggest that it is not always men abusing women? I am very familiar with women who control the behaviour and lives of their spouses, over many years, with threats that often involve children.

My Lords, homes and relationships should be places where people feel safe and loved but, with Northumbria Police receiving about 115 calls about domestic abuse per day, this is sadly not the case for many. The north-east has particularly high rates of domestic violence, at 19 per 1,000 population according to Health Equity North, while the average for the whole of England is 13.

Steps are being taken to reduce this number, with Northumbria Police having placed domestic abuse specialists in their emergency call rooms since 2022. The project has received positive feedback, and I welcome the Government’s plans to introduce this more widely through Raneem’s law.

At the end of May, I met the family of Holly Newton, a 15 year-old girl who was stalked and murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Hexham, Northumberland, which is in my diocese. The noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, mentioned Holly in her opening speech. The law states that this case was not one of domestic abuse, as both the victim and the perpetrator were under the age of 16, and it was classified as knife crime. This places an emphasis on the weapon rather than the build-up to the crime, which showed clear signs of domestic abuse.

In light of the recent Youth Endowment Fund survey of teenagers aged 13 to 17, which found that 49% had experienced some form of violent or controlling behaviour in their relationships in the past year, what consideration have the Government given to lowering the age limit to include those under 16 in the definition of domestic abuse?

I commend the Government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, but I fear that it is not possible without more focus on prevention. Holly’s family have raised the need to improve relationship education. The YEF survey also found that only 40% of respondents had lessons on building healthy, respectful romantic relationships, and even fewer teens received practical advice on recognising or addressing unhealthy relationships. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that teenagers receive high-quality education on healthy relationships and spotting signs of violence and coercion?

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking my friend the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, for securing this debate, and my noble friend Lady May of Maidenhead for her long-term leadership on this issue. I also thank Her Majesty the Queen for the compassion that she has shown on this issue, including by becoming patron of SafeLives, the charity that I founded almost 20 years ago.

I want to share with the House three things that I learned during my time at SafeLives. First, one of the principles to which we worked was: what would you want for your best friend if she was experiencing domestic abuse? We decided on a dedicated specialist who supported her, whatever the issues, be they criminal justice, housing or her children, and for that person to be the linchpin in co-ordinating other agencies to meet her needs.

Secondly, we too had the ambition of halving high-risk domestic abuse, so I share the Government’s ambition here, and you cannot do it if you do not work with perpetrators. We worked with two other charities and founded the Drive Partnership, which worked with the most high-risk perpetrators of abuse. One of the first young men we worked with had already had 10 partners by the age of 24 and had multiple children by those earlier relationships. Without working with him we can make his current partner safe, but we must make his future partners safe by changing his behaviour.

Thirdly, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hazarika, said, we are all thinking today of the tragedy of Sara Sharif. We must keep children central. Even the press coverage of her death talked about her parents having a volatile relationship. The child was killed, and we can imagine what happened before that. We did a big research study which found that 60% of the children that we looked at had lived with domestic abuse since they were in the womb, with everything that meant for their futures.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm, for bringing this debate before us today. I agree with her that the need to eliminate domestic abuse is a worthy and crucial ambition, as is supporting victims and survivors.

Violence against women and girls is not inevitable but perhaps should be regarded as a national emergency. According to the Office for National Statistics in its latest bulletin, Domestic Abuse in England and Wales Overview: November 2024, an estimated 2.3 million people aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024.

Two of the purposes of the Istanbul convention—or, to give it its full title, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence—are to

“protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence”,

and to

“contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and promote substantive equality between women and men, including by empowering women”.

The previous Government ratified the convention in 2022, and we were all very happy when that happened, but there were reservations on Articles 44 and 59. This Government are reviewing Article 59, and I look forward to the Minister reporting on that review soon, as it will be of great help to migrant women who are victims of domestic abuse. This convention is fully in line with what we are debating today.

I am pleased that this Government have set out an unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, and they have announced new measures to tackle spiking, stalking and other crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls. They have already taken significant steps to transform the policing response to these awful crimes.