Violence Against Women

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 10:17 am on 23 December 2010.

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Photo of Margaret Mitchell Margaret Mitchell Conservative 10:17, 23 December 2010

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. If anyone doubts the veracity of that statement, they should consider the fact that at least one in three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. That statistic becomes all the more frightening when we consider that the perpetrator is usually someone who is known to the victim. Violence against women encompasses but is not limited to physical, sexual and psychological violence, including domestic abuse, rape, incest and child sexual abuse, occurring in the family, the general community or in institutions; sexual harassment and intimidation at work and in the public sphere; commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking; dowry-related violence; female genital mutilation; forced and child marriages; and honour crimes.

The issue is complicated, so in the limited time that is available I will focus on two specific aspects. The first is the launch of a five-week campaign against domestic abuse by Strathclyde Police, as part of the force's on-going break the circle of violence campaign, which runs throughout the year and has four phases. The domestic abuse phase has proved to be a successful tool in tackling violence against women in Lanarkshire. The campaign involves a proactive approach to organised crime, antisocial behaviour and—significantly—domestic abuse. A contributory factor to its success is that the campaign has great local support, particularly from the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser, but also from Asda, North Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Women's Aid and Citizens Advice Scotland, as well as from local politicians of all parties and now the Scottish Prison Service.

One of the most successful aspects of the campaign is its focus on repeat offenders, who can be tracked using a Scottish database and national intelligence. That allows Strathclyde Police not only to identify the usual suspects, but to take steps to ensure that those repeat offenders know that they are being monitored. In turn, that allows the police to target repeat offenders at recognised volatile or trigger times, such as Christmas and new year and before old firm matches, when incidents of domestic violence are known to increase.

Officers contact the most serious offenders to let them know that the police are aware of their past behaviour and, crucially, that the police are monitoring them. That assertive approach has a marked effect that leads to a significant reduction in the numbers of domestic abuse incidents after, for example, old firm games, because the perpetrators know that the police are watching. In areas such as Monklands, which has the highest number of reported domestic abuse incidents in North Lanarkshire, that proactive approach, coupled with the knowledge that the police are determined to tackle the abuse, can serve only to give victims hope. The unpalatable truth is that as we approach the season of goodwill and look forward to spending time with our families, for all too many domestic abuse victims this is not a time of celebration but a time to dread.

The second aspect on which I will touch briefly, for the reasons that Hugh O'Donnell stated, was highlighted during the Equal Opportunities Committee scrutiny of stage 1 of the Forced Marriage etc (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Bill. Scottish Women's Aid stated that it is often when women come to it to seek assistance in relation to domestic abuse that the issue of forced marriage comes to light. It is a simple and abhorrent fact that forced marriage is a form of violence against women. That violence is not merely physical, but can involve verbal abuse and coercion, which are in themselves forms of brutality. One of the most appalling instances of coercion involves the threats and emotional blackmail that are sometimes used when a member of the family—often the victim's mother—threatens to commit suicide if the woman does not enter into the marriage. Self-evidently, that kind of coercion is deeply distressing and is a dramatic example of the type of intimidation that is exerted. It is not surprising, therefore, that many victims of forced marriage and, by extension, domestic abuse suffer from depression and mental health problems.

I hope that today's debate will contribute to raising greater awareness of this vexing and all too prevalent issue.