Yvonne Fovargue MP: Ending violence against women and girls

The government’s failure to enforce existing laws and its dismissal of Labour’s calls for new legislation to protect women and girls is letting violent criminals off the hook.

The Conservative government is failing women and girls on every front.

The number of women homicide victims is at its highest level in 15 years.

Rape prosecutions and convictions are at a record low.

Countless victims are abandoning their trials due to delays the government created, with delays in the Crown Court at a record high.

The government appears to have no desire to fix the mess it has created and no plan to create new laws to keep women and girls safe.

Labour has set out dozens of proposals in its Ending Violence Against Women and Girls green paper that the government has rejected.

A woman is killed every three days. Women and girls face harassment and abuse in their daily lives.

The police are recording more rape, domestic abuse and sexual offences than ever before, but the action against dangerous perpetrators has plummeted.

The charge rate for rape stands at just 1.5 per cent, meaning that the overwhelming majority of rape victims will never see justice.

Now is the time to put in place long overdue protections for women and girls against unacceptable violence.

Not just action against domestic homicides, rape and street harassment, but also a strategy to tackle misogynistic attitudes that underpin the abuse women face.

Violence against women and girls must be classed as a “serious crime” under The Serious Violence Duty.

The government’s refusal to legislate for this change tells you everything you need to know about their failure to tackle violence against women and girls over the past 12 years.

Labour have outlined a package of measures that would provide sweeping reforms to sentencing and protections for women and girls in our Ending Violence Against Women and Girls green paper.

Labour will put rape and domestic abuse specialists in every police force in England and will overhaul the police standards system, including vetting, training and misconduct, to make sure every victim gets the best possible service and support from police.

We will also bring in a domestic abusers register which will allow authorities to track perpetrators and prevent them causing harm to more women.

Labour will set up Specialist Rape Courts which will end the traumatisation of victims by the system.

Labour proposals include increasing the minimum sentences for rapists and stalkers, creating a new street harassment law, introducing a Whole Life Tariff for anyone found guilty of abduction and sexual assault and murder of a person, announcing a Review to toughen up sentences for domestic murderers and making misogyny a hate crime.