6. What plans does the Welsh Government have to reduce the prevalence of domestic abuse in Wales? OAQ(5)0186(FM)

We are committed to eliminating all forms of domestic abuse. We are currently consulting on the national strategy on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, which, when finalised in November, will set out our key objectives over the next five years.

I thank the First Minister for that reply. I’m sure the First Minister is aware of the reports from NSPCC Cymru last week that they have seen a big rise in the number of adults calling them worried about children suffering from or witnessing physical and emotional domestic abuse. The number of the calls to the NSPCC, I believe, has gone up 63 per cent over the last six years. What further can be done by the Welsh Government to tackle the issue of domestic abuse, in particular the damaging effect it has on young people’s lives?

NSPCC Cymru is represented on the ministerial advisory group, so we have established links with them to consider this report and to take any work forward. But I can say that in the national strategy, we committed to working with all the relevant partners to ensure we tackle adverse childhood experiences to reduce health-harming and anti-social behaviours in adult life. We need to look at this issue in the most holistic way possible, looking at eliminating the causes of domestic violence rather than simply, as it were, dealing with the aftermath. So, that approach is reflected in the work that the ministerial advisory group is taking forward.

First Minister, Gwent Police is taking part in a three-force pilot scheme, which will see front-line officers primed to look out for coercive or controlling behaviour when attending domestic abuse incidents. This is a switch to detecting patterns of abusive conduct, following on from new laws introduced to tackle perpetrators who subject spouses, partners or other family members to controlling or coercive behaviours, and is aimed at tackling a range of conducts such as social media, spying on them online and stopping them from socialising—and offenders can have up to five years in jail. I’m wondering if you’re taking this into consideration on a Gwent level and that it’s something that can be looked at across the board here in Wales.

I think that’s a good model. I worked for many years in the family courts and dealt with many domestic violence cases. Of course, the issues that were the most difficult to prove were those that involved psychological harm. When somebody has been attacked and that attack leaves physical evidence, then it’s there for all to see, but it could be difficult, of course, to deal with people who were controlling and who inflicted psychological violence. In those days there was no social media—there is now. So, I do very much welcome what Gwent Police are doing in order to go underneath looking at what appears to be a normal situation on the surface, and delve deeper in order to make sure that psychological violence is not being displayed and that they can identify it early on.

You’ll recall that, when we debated Stages 3 and 4 of the legislation last year—the violence against women Act—the then Minister, although not accepting the need to include reference to perpetrator programmes, committed the Welsh Government then to gather further evidence on taking forward pre-custodial perpetrator programmes. What action is your Government doing to facilitate that?

Well, these are issues that are being taken forward via the ministerial advisory group and, of course, via the strategy. The strategy will aim to be all-encompassing, dealing with the issues that the Member has raised in order—as I mentioned earlier on—to make sure that issues are dealt with early on rather than, of course, dealing with the aftermath and the trauma that causes for the victim.

First Minister, since the introduction of the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour, only a handful of charges have been brought. Is it therefore welcome news that police forces across the country will be training officers to recognise the signs of controlling or coercive behaviour? It’s similar to Bethan’s, I apologise. However, we need to inform the public that domestic violence isn’t restricted to physical abuse. How can the Welsh Government help spread the message that psychological and emotional abuse is a crime that won’t be tolerated, and to make the public more aware? Thank you.

We’ll continue to ensure that message is received. As I say, the strategy will be looking to take that forward. Creating the offence is one thing; finding enough evidence to prosecute can be tougher. That often involves making sure that people are aware that there’s an offence in the first place, which can be half the battle sometimes, and secondly, of course, making sure that somebody who wishes to give evidence feels safe in order to do so and feels that there will be an outcome for them and that they will be protected in the future. So, it isn’t simply a question, as she says, about creating the offence; it’s making sure that the offence is actually followed through and investigated properly by the police—she’s given examples of where that is happening—and then, of course, ultimately, successful prosecutions.