Background

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) takes many forms and affects women and girls in many different ways. Recent cases and the outpouring of stories shared by women and girls across the country have brought into sharp focus the endemic problems. The facts speak for themselves:

• Two women a week are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales.
• Up to 700,000 women are stalked each year, while it is estimated that one in five women will experience stalking in their adult life.
• Between April 2020 and February 2021, there was an increase of 61% in calls and contacts logged on Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline. 72% of those supported by the helpline were women experiencing abuse.
• In the year ending September 2020 there was a 10% increase in the total number of domestic abuse-related offences recorded by the police (842,813 offences) compared with the previous year.
• It is estimated that approximately 60,000 girls, born in England and Wales and aged 0 to 14, have mothers who had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). Approximately 10,000 girls aged under 15 who have migrated to England and Wales are likely to have undergone FGM.
• In 2019, at least 1,080 women and girls were victims of a forced marriage.

The United Nations defines violence against women as: any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. This inquiry will look at what action is being taken to end the scourge of violence against women and girls, and how violence against women and girls is currently being addressed by Government, the police and the wider criminal justice system.  The Committee expects to focus on a series of different issues as part of this overarching inquiry, starting with the investigation and prosecution of rape, for which additional terms of reference are being issued. It will use information from this overarching call for evidence on violence against women and girls to inform its detailed future programme of work.

Initial terms of reference

The Committee invites evidence on the following points, to inform development of its future programme:

• How VAWG affects women and girls. This may include:
  • Information on different forms and experiences of VAWG – for example rape, sexual harassment and abuse, domestic abuse, coercive control, street and online harassment, stalking, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and other forms of violence and abuse – and the differences between addressing VAWG in the public and private spheres;
  • How VAWG has changed and how issues relating to VAWG are affected by modern technology, for example the use of social media and online dating sites, sexting, revenge porn and the accessibility of explicit pornography;
  • How VAWG affects young women and girls including in school and education institutions, in public places and online;
  • How VAWG affects particular groups, such as migrant women, sex workers or women with protected characteristics;
  • The prevalence and effect of honour-based violence and other practices that may affect minority groups such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage;
  • How sexual violence is being normalised within relationships, including strangulation, and the influence of extreme or violent pornography;
  • How organisations that women and girls turn to for support and help engage with issues relating to VAWG and their role in tackling and preventing it.

• How VAWG should be prevented and addressed. This may include:
  • The role information and education for both men and women play in protecting women and girls;
  • Whether there is sufficient and appropriate support available for victims;
  • What measures should be in place for perpetrators;
  • The role of organisations and institutions including the police and criminal justice system, schools, colleges and education institutions, employers and trade unions, social media companies, local community and specialist services;
  • What lessons should be learnt from the 2016-2020 Ending Violence against Women and Girls strategy when developing the Government’s 2021-2024 strategy;
  • How current Bills, such as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the Domestic Abuse Bill and other recent legislation that has been introduced can address, or have addressed, the issue of VAWG; and
  • Steps towards ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

The Committee has also published separate terms of reference relating specifically to the investigation and prosecution of rape. If you wish to submit evidence on this issue, please click here.

Submissions should be received by 12 noon on Tuesday 11 May 2021.

For full details and link to online submission form go to https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/463/violence-against-women-and-girls/

April 30, 2021