Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 1 February 2017.
I welcome that response. As the Cabinet Secretary knows, there’s growing and damning empirical evidence and applied academic studies highlighting the increased domestic abuse and violence around major sporting events, not just the six nations but the Super Bowl final, the football World Cup and others. Hence, those efforts by the Welsh Government, by the Welsh Rugby Union, by players themselves and others to raise awareness of this deep cultural problem and putting forward measures to turn this around. When Wales played England in Cardiff during the six nations tournament in 2009, South Wales Police recorded a nearly 80 per cent increase in domestic abuse incidents compared to the previous weekend. In the 2012 tournament, there were over 4,300 calls to the all-Wales domestic abuse and sexual violence helpline. That was an increase of almost 10 per cent on the same period the previous year. And when Wales played England during the six nations that year South Wales Police recorded a 76 per cent increase in the numbers of domestic abuse incidents compared to the previous weekend. So, bringing this into the open, raising awareness of the increased threat of domestic abuse around the six nations and major sporting events is only the first stage. We’ve all got a role to play in highlighting this and rugby players themselves have spoken out previously, but what more can the Welsh Government, but also its partners, do to tackle the tough cultural and individual roots of this ongoing problem?