Committee takes evidence from Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Refuge and Centre for Women’s Justice on VAWG
8 June 2021
The Home Affairs Committee holds the opening session of its inquiry into violence against women and girls on Wednesday 9 June, when it takes evidence from experts working to inform Government at all levels, and domestic abuse charities.
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”. While it has recently featured prominently in the media, this is an issue that can be pervasive and hidden.
- The most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that an estimated 1.6m women experienced domestic abuse in the last year
- The Crime Survey also estimated that there were around 977,000 women who were victims of stalking in the last year
- According to a 2018 survey by Plan International UK, two-thirds of girls and young women aged 14 to 21 in the UK have experienced unwanted sexual attention or unwanted sexual or physical contact in a public place
Purpose of the session
In this opening session of the inquiry, the Home Affairs Committee will gain an overview of the current picture in relation to violence against women and girls, as well as the impact of current measures to address it. The Committee will also investigate which forms of VAWG and which groups of women and girls affected by VAWG may be overlooked.
Witnesses
Wednesday 9 June 2021, 10am
Panel 1:
- Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
- Yasmin Khan, National Advisor to the Welsh Government for Violence against Women, Gender-based Violence, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, and founder and CEO of the Halo Project
- Sophie Linden, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime
- Claire Waxman, Victims’ Commissioner for London
Panel 2:
- Surwat Sohail, Chief Executive, Roshni Birmingham
- Cordelia Tucker-O’Sullivan, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Refuge
- Harriet Wistrich, Founding Director, Centre for Women’s Justice