Time to instil fear of God into those who threaten women

Iwas shocked and horrified by the killings of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. Beyond the headlines in these tragic cases, the scale of violence against women and girls is sickening. Working with the Home Secretary and Attorney General, I am determined to make the criminal justice system more sensitive to the needs of female victims, and relentless in pursuing perpetrators.

Some 1.6 million women experienced domestic abuse in the 12 months to March 2020. Over 600,000 were sexually assaulted. Almost 900,000 were stalked. For many, the fear of being out alone after dark, or that they may be beaten in their own home, is everyday reality. We must turn that situation around. I want us to give those women back the confidence to live life without having to look anxiously over their shoulder, and instil the fear of God into the minds of anyone who would contemplate threatening a woman or girl.

There’s no single silver bullet to achieve this. As a government we’re putting together all the pieces of a strategy that will tackle the issue at every level. Last year, we passed the Domestic Abuse Act to strengthen powers to deal with abusers, and increase support for victims in court.

We are scrapping the automatic halfway release for serious sexual offences, so that perpetrators stay behind bars for longer. And the new “serious violence duty” will ensure criminal justice agencies and local agencies in the community work more closely to protect people from harm, including through earlier intervention.

Before Christmas, I published the first Criminal Justice Scorecards, which shine a light on how well the police and Crown Prosecution Service are tackling rape and sexual violence, and the first progress report on our Rape Review Action Plan – so we can target the parts of the system failing victims, and spread best practice.

We are expanding the pilots of Operation Soteria, under which police and prosecutors are working more closely together to prevent the scrutiny of those reporting rape eclipsing the proper focus on investigating the suspect.

When the victim of rape gets to trial, we are giving them the option to pre-record their evidence, so they are spared the ordeal of giving evidence under the glare of the courtroom. We have been trialling the technology, and will now roll it out nationwide.

And our plans for a new Victims’ Law will make sure all victims have confidence that they will be listened to and supported at every step. Under the proposals, we will increase the victims’ surcharge, paid by offenders found guilty, and use the money to boost funding for victims’ services – which is already three times the amount that was provided in 2010/11.

I am constantly looking for ways we can do better. So, today, we are setting out two further changes to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill – to better protect women.

First, we will make sure victims of domestic abuse aren’t denied justice because of time limits on prosecutions that allow perpetrators to evade punishment. Many such victims delay coming forward for entirely understandable reasons. They may be too afraid, feel trapped, or hold onto hope that their partner might change.

Victims of common assault involving domestic abuse have just six months to report the crime, from the date that the offence takes place. In too many cases, by the time a victim has recovered and built up the courage to go to the police, they are timed out. Our change will start the six month time limit from the date the victim reports the offence to police, with an overall limit of two years from when the offence took place. That will leave the door to justice open to thousands more victims. Second, we’ll protect women when they are breastfeeding in public.

Every mother has the right to breastfeed without someone that they don’t know, or don’t want, trying to film or photograph them, for their own warped reasons. Anyone who films or takes photographs of women breastfeeding without their consent, to harass or humiliate them, or for sexual gratification, will be committing a criminal offence, punishable by up to two years in prison.

Protecting women and girls, and giving them confidence in the criminal justice system, is my priority. I am under no illusions about the scale of the challenge, but we are determined to achieve it – as we build back a safer, stronger and fairer country. Dominic Raab is Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary