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Labour's failure to tackle violence against women

Published 07 January 2009

Conservative shadow minister for women Theresa May attacks Labour's myopia over tackling violence against women and sets out her plans for an incoming Tory government

The challenge of ending violence against women in the UK is one of the most serious that will face an incoming government. With three million women experiencing violence each year in a variety of forms, it is a complex problem.

Although the Government have made some progress in this area, it has largely been in the field of criminal justice. Whilst this is important, an approach that sees tackling violence against women simply as a matter for the criminal justice system misses the point. At the heart of the Government’s failure to understand this has been its failure to implement a cross-government strategy on tackling violence.

Such a strategy is necessary if we are to acknowledge the fact that violence against women touches on numerous areas of public policy. Think of a man forcing his partner to take on debts in her name. Or think of a woman forced into homelessness because she is fleeing a violent relationship. These cases touch on issues of finance, economic dependence, housing and more. Violence against women should be considered a core issue across government departments, both centrally and locally. In 2007, David Cameron committed a Conservative government to implementing a cross-government strategy and our recent strategy document Ending Violence Against Women outlines some of the measures we will implement.

As newstatesman.com readers will know, one of the most alarming issues in this area has been the decline in the number of Rape Crisis centres over recent years. Rape Crisis centres provide vital support to the victims of rape and sexual abuse, but due to funding uncertainties their numbers have significantly declined. The majority of women now have no access to one.

I am determined that a Conservative government would do more to support these vital services. That’s why we recently announced our commitment not just to providing stable funding to existing centres but to establishing 15 new centres to fill some of the gaps that have emerged. We will allocate £2.6 million from Victim Surcharge revenue to go towards the establishment of 15 new centres, growing the current network by more than a third. This significant commitment will begin to reverse the trend that has resulted in so many women being unable to access the support that they need.

At the heart of a strategy to tackle violence against women must be the need for preventative work so that we can tackle the root causes of violence. I believe that schools have an important role to play here. Surveys suggest that around 40 per cent of young men believe it is acceptable to expect to have sex with a girl if she is ‘very flirtatious’, and – equally worrying – 16 per cent of girls agree with this. We must ensure that young people are taught about consent as part of sex education.

However, education about these issues must extend beyond schools. We also need to make sure that front-line professionals, such as police and teachers, are properly trained to deal with violence against women and, crucially, spot its symptoms when it might not be obvious. Part of this will simply be raising awareness on issues such as female genital mutilation, on which there is little guidance given.

A Conservative government will ensure appropriate training is given to professionals such as police, teachers and health visitors. Indeed, health visitors have an important role to play as 30 per cent of domestic violence starts during or just after a pregnancy. We will provide 4,200 additional health visitors and ensure that they are appropriately trained in spotting the signs of violence.

This is crucial work and it will not be easy, but I call on the Government to adopt the integrated strategy that I and many others have been advocating. For millions of women across the country it will be not a moment too soon.

Rt Hon Theresa May MP, shadow leader of the House of Commons and shadow minister for women

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10 comments from readers

Carl Jones
07 January 2009 at 11:08

In a time when the world is literally boiling over, the NS runs a filler artile like this...sure there is violence against women, but there`s much more violence against childern in schools and travelling too and from school and then we have the violence against young men, or the violence agaist people in prison????

The NS is so far up its own backside, its frankly unbelieveable.LOL

I have said in previous comments that democracy and capitalism have failed the people of the world, with their designed financial crisis.

If there was an independently drawn up list of failed states, then the top three would be the USA, Britain and Isreal. Of course, we can`t just leave the governments of the world, to carry the can, no, here we have an excellent example of a "failed" high brow MSM publication....maybe the Newstatesman should offer its subscribers an "edition holiday" where they can miss three issues....these issues containing all their artiles on "violence against women" and "lets convict more men for rape" based on no evidence what so ever.LOL

All very sad, maybe the BBC should start "The Failed Awards", but they`d pick up a gong every year and lets face it, not much would change, with the same crowd turning up year after year.LOL

If you ask me, I think the Newstatesman is SCARED of taking on the big stories....this is what happens when everyone has been on a "Common Purpose" brain washing course.LOL Or maybe it has something to do with its owner[s]????

FreedomLand
07 January 2009 at 13:09

This is simply a statement by a politician, Carl, uhh. Quote "...I have always felt that a website can be a valuable tool with which to reach out to the public..."

Still, the issues she has been addressing are important if Britain (and those other "failed states") are to ever create positive CHANGE.

In the human brain, sex and violence go hand in hand and therefore the individual psyche has to be educated and trained to respond in more civilized ways..... particularly as there have already been generations of wrong training and wrong responses.

Merely relying on "law + order" issues and the courts has already proven disastrous and, as we all now know, the legalists and decision-makers at the top have mislead us all for decades. That IS why we ahve the financial/economic crisis - and everthing can get worse if we let it.

Cat
07 January 2009 at 16:31

If the Conservatives are committed to violence against women as an issue, then why did the Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, renege on his promise to rape crisis centres in London, slashing £500,000 from their budget?

barry gaynor
07 January 2009 at 18:51

I fear Theresa May may be making the same mistake of the Labour Party, a bit of a shock since she has shown a degree of intelligence and understanding of issues not found in many polititions.

DV advocates for over 30 years have consciously or unconsciously ignored and suppressed research and dialogue that is perceived as having the potential to undermine the general view of domestic violence, man perpetrator women victim.

Many peer reviewed studies, call into question the assumption that DV is primarily a male crime and that, when women are violent, it is usually in self-defense. Because these assumptions are crucial elements in almost all partner DV prevention, detection and treatment programs, a fundamental revision is needed to bring these programs into alignment with the empirical data.

Prevention, detection and treatment of DV could become more effective if the programs recognize that most DV is bidirectional and act on the fact a high rate of violence is perpetrated by women.

JimBWarrior
07 January 2009 at 19:54

There will be no progress with the violence debate until Gender and Race are removed

We go in circles of blame rather than positive action

Our biggest problem is the generations of FAMILIES torn apart by Family Law and Social Policy

ENSHRINE ** Equal Parenting ** into World-Wide Family Law and Social Policy would see the problem fixed in as many generations as it has taken to create the violence.

Sign the ** Equal Parenting ** petition

Go Google and put in

Kids need equal doses of Mum, Dad and all 4 Grand's

Onward - Jim

DavidReabow
07 January 2009 at 20:58

What about the thousands of women/mothers who "cry rape/abuse/harrassment" falsely to get the upper hand in family courts?? The police and courts refuse to recognise this.

The police will even lie about and threaten a man/father who tries to claim false allegations and refuse to investigate.

The statistics are highly inflated by women who are themselves criminals and should be on trial instead of the men they falsely accuse.

A large percentage of the "abused" women are just liers and abusers themselves. They steal thousands from the tax payer through police, court and legal aid funding.

These women/mothers who lie are an insult to every woman who has been genuinely abused and detract from the justice and care that they should be getting.

Of course the police, the courts and government will refuse to acknowledge this as it's not politically correct and will take away millions they they are granted in funding because of highly inflated statistics.

Carl Jones
07 January 2009 at 23:02

FreedomLad

You`ve shot yourself in the foot, "reach out to the public"...Theresa doesn`t need a website to reach out to the people, all the people want is policies which can demonstrate an improvement...education gets messed around every decade, purely so parents can`t help their children.

Blair won the last election with 22% of the total potential vote and 50% of those who voted for Labour, said they did so, to stop the Tories gaining a seat. So only 11% supported Labour....this is an illustration, of just how pathetic democracy has become.

Theresa headline is a demonstration of simplification, in fact, all Theresa is about, is belittling the standing of the "MALE" in society. There appears to be a rise in London`s demestic violence since the New Year...no doubt related to the bills that will be coming in a few weeks time....lets face it, the quality of life in Britain, is CRAP!! I bet there`s higher domestic violence in Britain, compared to Norway. Theresa, the Tories and Labour haven`t got a clue...in fact, I really don`t believe they are interested in crime and domestic vilolence. Society makes men what they are and Britain deserves the violent society they have. I don`t see things improving for 50 years.LOL

FreedomLand
08 January 2009 at 03:36

Carl Jones: "You`ve shot yourself in the foot..."

You always manage to miss the main point of my comments, Carl, duh. Still, I agree with what you have said. Britain was always a bunch of savages before the Romans arrived - or, Britain was always a bunch of savages after the Romans left - or, Britain was a bunch of savages once the Romans arrived?!?!

Civilization is merely a veneer. But what lies beneath IS what you make it. Of course, the people at the top have the influence one way or another. They trained and disciplined the savagery and projected that for conquest for their own reasons. They could just as easily train their people in civility, good manners and right conduct and "do unto others as you would have them do to you, etc etc"

What you/we have now (and in all Anglo-Celtic settled countries) is the result of the former. Thus we get what we deserve - the results of our actions. War created murderers who then bring their misery and violence back home to their loved ones. The young are then instructed in evil ways and the cycle goes on unbroken - if we let it.

But it takes some bravery/courage (not the kind of those who take up arms) to admit the errors and to change the way of thinking to something better. That means in spite of those in the community who are still in denial or otherwise refuse to accept their own part in things and their own fault.

Of course, the politicians aren't the ones who can do it because they are too pre-occupied with pandering for the last vote. They cannot say to the returned servicemen that they were sent on a fools' errand or that they were made in to killers for no more reason than to support the military-industrial complex and the dreams of a faded, jaded empire.

loudsavlon
08 January 2009 at 08:28

Domestic violence is not a women's issue, it is a human issue. Failure to take this into account means the rate of reoccurence remains astoundingly high.

As such, a poor article that ignores a huge slice of the domestic violence demographic.

Nick Gulliford
12 January 2009 at 09:41

I agree with Theresa May that, "At the heart of a strategy to tackle violence against women must be the need for preventative work so that we can tackle the root causes of violence. I believe that schools have an important role to play here."

But in claiming, "At the heart of the Government’s failure to understand this has been its failure to implement a cross-government strategy on tackling violence" she is calling the kettle black.

Maria Miller MP, Shadow Minister for the Family, announced a new Conservative policy on 30th September 2008 at the Party Conference:

"We want local registrars to start signposting couples to pre-marital education as a matter of routine. The Local Government Association who co-ordinate the role of wedding registrars agree, and I am pleased to say that they [are] putting forward this policy so that every young couple getting married will be made aware of the benefits......"

It is a pity Theresa May did not endorse this in her article, as it would have demonstrated that - unlike the present government - the Shadow Ministers can work across their silos.

Furthermore, since the Conservatives have a majority on the LGA, it is a policy they could be implementing now and be demonstrating before the next general election that they are capable of effective action in preventing domestic violence.