I have made my point very clearly. I really want to respect the wishes of Mr Speaker, who has made it very clear to everyone that he is very keen to ensure that today, as on all days, Back Benchers have as much time as necessary to make their cases. I have very thoroughly addressed the issues raised in the amendments by my colleagues. I will now press on in the time that I have available.
I really want to emphasise that ending violence against women and girls is a top priority of this Government. Since publishing the original “A Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” strategy in 2010, we have made great strides. In the past four years, we have strengthened the legislative framework and introduced a range of new measures including new offences on domestic abuse, forced marriage and stalking; tools such as domestic violence and FGM protection orders; and a range of guidance and support for professionals. Of course we know that there is more to do. I assure the House that we remain committed to drive forward at pace work to tackle violence against women and girls. That is why we recently announced the “Tackling child
sexual exploitation: progress report” supported by a £40 million package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and to crack down on offenders.
Last week, the Prime Minister announced plans for a major new programme of work to transform the way we think about and tackle domestic abuse. That is being led by the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary and it will look at all legislative and non-legislative options for improving support for victims, especially in terms of how the law and legal procedures currently work. It will work towards bringing forward a domestic violence and abuse Act, and the measures that come out of the work will raise public awareness of the problem as well as encouraging victims to report their abusers and see them brought to justice. The £15 million Home Office VAWG transformation fund is currently open for bids further to support local areas in promoting and embedding best practice.
I wish to turn my attention to the issues raised by the other amendments in this group. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley has spoken about the importance of recognising that men and boys can also be victims of these crimes—he has spoken about that both on Second Reading and in many other parliamentary debates on VAWG and related issues.
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Let me make it clear that this Government recognise, as does the convention, that men and boys can be victims of these crimes, and that they too deserve support and protection. That is why, for example, the Home Office funds the men’s advice line, which provides support to male victims of domestic violence, as well as Galop, which provides information and support to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members who may be affected by violence and abuse.
I also want to be clear that the UK’s signing of the convention has both cross-party and cross-UK support. We signed up to the convention in 2012, and we stand by our commitment to delivering against everything it requires. All acts of gender-based violence need to be tackled. However, we cannot ignore the fact that women are still disproportionately affected by these crimes. The 2016 crime survey for England and Wales showed that women are around twice as likely to have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 as men, and that 19.9% of women, compared with 3.6% of men, have experienced sexual assault from the age of 16. Furthermore, other data show that women are much more likely than men to be the victims of high risk or severe domestic abuse. That is clearly demonstrated by the fact that a greater number of cases are going to the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference, and that more victims are accessing independent domestic violence advisers who deal with the most severe cases; more than 95% of these victims are female.
The Istanbul convention seeks to address that by promoting international co-operation on VAWG. Indeed, it is the first pan-European, legally binding instrument that provides a comprehensive set of standards to prevent and combat violence against women. It is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle these violations of human rights and to promote greater equality between women and men. It is therefore in the UK’s interest that
we further co-ordinate our efforts internationally to eliminate all forms violence against women and girls, both at home and abroad.
Although I understand the concern of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley that the measures that we take to address VAWG do not inadvertently discriminate against men and boys, and that men and boys are also supported, I must stress that this Bill, which is focused on progress toward ratifying a convention that we have already signed up to, simply does not do that.
I also want to reassure my hon. Friend and the House that once we are compliant, and before we ratify, we are required by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 to lay the text of the convention and all accompanying explanatory memorandums before the House for scrutiny. I realise that I am being rather optimistic but I hope that he will seek to withdraw his amendments, because there is overwhelming support in this House today and across the country that this Bill be progressed.