Domestic Abuse
Violence against women is a hugely important issue that must be tackled urgently. Statistics show that one in four women in Wales will experience violence at the hands of a partner during their lives. Shockingly, figures from Women’s aid show that around 70% of female murder victims are killed by male partners, with domestic violence being the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 19 and 44. The message that violence against women is unacceptable must be made clear.
I therefore welcome the Social Justice Minister’s recent statement and his commitment to allocating additional funding to tackle violence against women. As a new Minister it’s important for him to take forward and build on the work of his predecessor. Firstly, we need to look at and improve the draft violence against women prevention strategy which was initiated by the former social justice minister. There has been widespread disappointment with the current draft. The new Minister has this opportunity to show that he’s taking the issue seriously by listening to the consultation responses as a priority.
Launching the Assembly domestic abuse guide with Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Dr Brian Gibbons
Violence against women is recognised by the UN as a specific problem that requires specific measures to combat it effectively. There are examples of best practice from across the globe which the Minister should consider. I have long argued that, here in Wales, we should develop a TV advertising campaign similar to that which exists in Scotland. I believe that it is vital that everyone works together to tackle and hopefully eliminate violence against women in our communities.
Over a year ago I launched a blog called ‘Stories behind the stats‘‘ which has been specifically created for individuals to write about their own personal experiences of violence against women. This blog’s aim is to show the human stories behind the statistics in order to bring home the severity of the issue. It demonstrates that this is happening in ALL of our communities, in our streets and in our villages and to people we know and love.
Domestic abuse and violence against women is not talked about in our society largely due to the fact that women do not speak out about their experiences. They somehow feel that they are to be blamed for being a victim and therefore the severity and incidence of the problem is largely ignored by most in society, as if it doesn’t exist. After all it’s easier to try and ignore the issue rather than try and deal with it, isn’t it?
This blog was the second part of my campaign to bring more attention to this issue. The first part gained a lot of media attention when 3 AM’s admitted to being victims or rape and 1 of domestic violence. Those stats aren’t as shocking as they seem, they follow national trends and I suspect that there are more experiences with the Assembly than the anonymous poll indicates. The shocking thing is that it took politicians to speak out, albeit anonymously to get attention to the issue.
I’d like to thank the brave women who have had the courage to write about their experiences here. If you would like to contribute anonymously you can contact me at nerys.evans@wales.gov.uk or you can visit the blog by clicking on this link.