Dealing with the 'epidemic' of violence against women and girls

Alex Davies-Jones is a woman with one of the toughest missions in government. She is the victims minister within the Ministry of Justice, with responsibility for tackling violence against women and girls - a problem she describes as "an epidemic". The minister was on Merseyside today, spending time "on the coalface" with women who deal with violence against women and girls on a daily basis.

Along with Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell and Birkenhead MP Alison McGovern, she visited a rape crisis centre in Birkenhead run by Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside. The minister said: "I wanted to come here and see directly these brilliant organisations that are working day in, day out to try to tackle the epidemic of violence against women and girls in our country."

The figures on violence against women and girls in the UK are appalling. In this country, three women are murdered each week at the hands of men, and one in 12 women are a victim of sexual assault and rape. Over the past six years, police say that recorded violence against women and girls increased by nearly 40 percent, a statistic that can only partially be put down to increased reporting of crimes.

Today, Ms. Davies-Jones spoke exclusively to the ECHO about the Labour government's plans to tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls. She said she was inspired to work on the issue after getting "fed up, frustrated and infuriated" with seeing how violence against women and girls "was playing out in society and in our streets".

She added: "If it was any other crime, it would be front page news every day. And only now are we seeing this really coming to the forefront, and people recognising that it needs to be dealt with." She described the Southport attacks as "utterly abhorrent" and said "all of our thoughts are with the community of Southport - the victims, the survivors, their families and everyone who pulled together as a community after that horrendous event."

The government's aims are incredibly ambitious in the area of violence against women and girls. Labour have pledged to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. For the minister, it is an achievable aim. "It was in our manifesto, we've made that really clear," she says. "The prime minister has been clear that he sees this as a mission that needs to be tackled, and that's where we're going and that's where our policies are headed. It is ambitious, but we recognise it's a need that has to be met. Given the current levels, they cannot stay as they are."

Asked what concrete steps Labour will take to deliver the aim, she reels off a number of areas in need of reform. She said: "It's about tackling the court backlog, it's about making sure we prioritise rape and sexual assaults through our court system, setting up these specialist courts, and making sure we've got independent legal advocates so that victims come forward and they feel like they've got that support. We've also pledged more power for the victims' commissioner, and we've looked at how we can build the Victims and Prisoners Act that was passed by the previous government.

Ms Davies-Jones is also keen to change British culture.. She said: "Over many years, misogyny has been allowed to bleed into society, into our culture. People feel like the police aren't there for them, and they feel like the criminal justice system is broken, it's not working. It's about how we rebuild that trust in society and how we use every lever across government to fix this stuff. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be overnight, and it's not just for the government to fix, or for the police to fix, or for the criminal justice system to fix.

"It's everybody's responsibility. But we can do it. I liken it to how we got to with making racism or homophobia completely unacceptable to society. Yes, we have racists, yes we have homophobes still in society. But nowadays, if you're in a pub, or if you're going to watch your football team play, or if you're in school, and someone says something that is totally inappropriate, it gets called out, nine times out of 10, and it's deemed to be unacceptable. That's where I want us to get to with misogyny. It can happen. But it's a massive, massive task to tackle, but we're going to do it."

The minister is keen to emphasise that it is "everyone's problem to fix" and that men must also have a role in addressing the problem. She said: "We know it's not all men. But more often than not it is all women who've experienced trauma or issues, or problems with this in society. And it's everybody's problem to fix. It's got to be all of us working together. It isn't about demonising men, or making men the enemy. It's about bringing them with us on this journey."

She added: "A lot of them are exploited by this and they are victims too. And it's about how we bring them with us. Particularly when I'm talking to education teams and boys in schools around how they're seeing certain influencers on the internet. Tailoring their approach to things. It's about recognising that they're being exploited by this as well and it's how we tackle that as a whole. But it's not about making anybody the enemy.

"This isn't a men versus women issue. We know there are lots of male victims. More men are coming forward and saying this is happening to them. I am minister for all victims, and though we've got a specific mission to halve violence against women and girls because we know that is the national emergency, and that is the epidemic that we're facing at the moment, it's also about bringing men on that journey with us too. And trying to get them to be part of the solutions as well, not part of the problem."

Rape convictions are notoriously difficult to bring about. The minister said that during the general election campaign, she spoke to a woman who told her that when she went through the criminal justice system, "it made her want to die". She said those words will "always stick with me", and is adamant that Labour will meet the challenge of reforming the system head on.