Government to criminalise virginity testing and set up 24/7 helpline to tackle violence against women and girls
Priti Patel says whole strategy will ‘deliver real and lasting change’
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Your support makes all the difference.The government is looking to criminalise so-called virginity testing and commission a 24/7 rape and sexual assault helpline under new plans aimed at tackling violence against women and girls.
Ministers are set to put forward proposals on Wednesday, which also includes the creation of new roles with a focus on women’s safety.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said the government’s strategy has been shaped by those who have “bravely” shared their experiences.
The government asked the public for their thoughts on how to tackle violence against women and girls in the wake of Sarah Everard’s death, who disappeared while walking home in London earlier this year.
The Home Office reopened their public consultation as they prepared to update their strategy amid widespread conversations and calls for action over women’s safety.
Around the same time as Everard’s death, thousands of people flooded the website Everyone’s Invited to share their testimonies of sexual abuse involving students or in education.
Ms Patel, the home secretary, said: “I am determined to give the police the powers they need to crack down on perpetrators and carry out their duties to protect the public whilst providing victims with the care and support they deserve.”
She added: “This strategy, shaped by the responses of those who bravely came forward and shared their stories and experiences, will deliver real and lasting change.”
More than 180,000 contributors have helped shaped the plans, which also commits to creating a role aimed to supporting women’s safety on public transport.
The strategy would appoint two people to the position of Violence Against Women and Girls Transport Champion and create the role of a national policing tasked with improving response times to crimes related to violence against women and girls and to ensure best practice among forces.
It also seeks to criminalise so-called virginity testing, described by MPs as a “medieval” practice.
Further pledges include the Ministry of Justice commissioning a 24/7 rape and sexual assault helpline, while the Department for Education will work with the Office for Students to tackle sexual harassment and abuse in higher education, the Government said.
But the head of Plan International UK, a charity promoting children’s rights and equality of girls, said the organisation was “very disappointed” new legislation for public sexual harassment was not part of the plans.
And Jess Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said necessary support cannot survive on “warm words alone”.
She asked: “How are we in a situation where we have better protections for statues than for women?”
The review is published against a backdrop of dismal conviction rates for rape, despite the number of reported incidents on the rise.
A watchdog also recently found three quarters of domestic abuse-related crimes reported to police saw investigations into them dropped without a charge.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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