This Week (01.02.23), Peter Gibson MP spoke about the need to tackle violence against women and girls in a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on Sentencing for violence against women and girls.
Tackling violence against Women & Girls has been and rightly continues to be a key focus for the current Government and many previous Governments. Mr Gibson highlighted the work done by successive Conservative Governments on this issue, including most recently the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and Mr Gibson’s own Private Members Bill, the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, also known as Sian’s Law.
Speaking in the Debate Mr Gibson highlighted the work that Darlington Borough Council has been able to carry out thanks to funding from the Safer Streets Fund. Furthermore, Mr Gibson praised the work of those in Darlington’s CCTV Control Room, saying of a recent case involving two men touching an intoxicated woman inappropriately “I want to praise their diligence and swift action to protect this woman. That swift intervention led to convictions of the two perpetrators with sentences of 22 months.”
Mr Gibson went on to emphasise that one of the key tools to tackle violence against women and girls is education, saying that “whilst capital spending on projects in essential, what also is essential is education, to help break cycles of abusive behaviours which sees children of family’ s experiencing domestic abuse becomes perpetrators and victims in adulthood. Further investment in perpetrator programmes can also help to break these cycles.”
Mr Gibson concluded his speech by emphasising that this is an issue that we need to continue to tackle saying that “whilst it is clear we have done some great things, It is clear we still need to do more.”
Speaking in the debate, the Minister responding, Ed Argar, Minister of State for Victims and sentencing, expressed a wish to visit Darlington to see the Safer Streets investments and Mr Gibson looks forward to welcoming him in due course.
