Member

It is also worth placing these proposals in the wider context of national efforts to tackle violence against women and girls. The Government have committed to halving violence against women and girls over the next decade. They have promised new police units focused on rape and sexual offences and expanded domestic protection orders. All that forms part of a broader mission, and we await a further Statement tomorrow in the other place on the violence against women and girls strategy. Unfortunately, the Government’s position in their own Sentencing Bill raises serious questions about the wider issue. In that Bill, despite repeated amendments in both Houses, they have resisted exempting sexual assault and related offences from the presumption in favour of suspended sentences. We believe that is real concern for victims and survivors, who rightly expect sentences for harmful and violent conduct to reflect the gravity of the offence, and to protect them from further harm.