Alison Hume

I thank the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) for securing this important debate. In my constituency of Scarborough and Whitby, Scarborough has the highest rate of domestic incidents per 1,000 head of population, at 15.7 recorded in North Yorkshire. A constituent, who I will call Anna—not her real name—came to see me to tell me what happened to her. I commend her for her bravery and honesty. Anna suffered abuse of the most extreme kind from her ex-partner, including an attempt at strangulation. She applied for and was granted a restraining order, but it was ignored by the perpetrator and the order was not enforced. At a pre-trial hearing, the judge came to an agreement out of court. Despite Anna’s passing out, it was decided that it was pressure on her neck, not strangulation. Anna’s attacker was given a suspended sentence in order to undertake a relationship-building course with the probation service. Anna lives in fear of what he might do to her or other women at his workplace, who of course have no knowledge about his violent past. Anna’s experiences of the criminal justice system have taken a toll on her, leaving her without the strength to ask for a review from the court or the police. My constituent’s case is far from untypical. A study by Women’s Aid on the family courts published last week found that survivors overwhelmingly felt that their experiences had been made worse by the justice system. We must do better. I look forward to hearing from the Minister how we can support people like Anna, whom I commend for her bravery in speaking out.