Despite significant work in Wales with the Welsh Government and its partners over the last few years, we know that many people are still at risk of or experiencing violence and abuse. As part of our long-term approach to raising awareness and changing attitudes, we are developing our national communications framework. This aims to ensure clear, joined-up and consistent messaging across Wales. We continue to work closely with local authorities, health boards and other partners, as well as the Home Office and criminal justice agencies in Wales. Through collaboration across both devolved and non-devolved areas, we can work to achieve our shared goals.

As part of helping us to prevent violence against women in the future, we have to focus on informing children to make sure they understand that FGM is a crime and a violation of human rights. As many Members have said, in September this year, the Cabinet Secretary for Education published the Government's new action plan, 'Education in Wales: Our national mission'. The action plan sets out how the school system will move forward over the period 2017-21, securing implementation of the new curriculum with a focus on leadership, professional learning, excellence and equity within a self-improving system.

The draft new curriculum will be made available to schools and settings in April 2019 for feedback and the final new curriculum will be made available by January 2020. The new curriculum will be introduced initially to all primary schools and year 7 in secondary schools in September 2022 and will subsequently roll out year on year in secondary schools from this point. The reason I highlight this is because we know that education services and schools in particular are well placed to spot the signs of abuse, and a number of Members have pointed this out. They know their children better than all the other services and are well placed to identify the warning signs and intervene at an early stage. Given their pivotal role, we will write to schools annually, reminding them of the risk posed to girls during the summer holidays and ensuring they know how to access help and support.

We will also continue to fund Hafan Cymru's Spectrum project, which works in primary and secondary schools across Wales. The programme teaches children about healthy relationships, abuse and its consequences and where to seek help. We also fund Welsh Women's Aid's Children Matter project in support of the prevention element of the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence Act. This project supports local services across Wales to challenge gender inequality experienced by children and young people and to improve safety.

We're clear in our aim to improve prevention, protection and support for victims and survivors, as set out in the Act and in our national strategy, which was published last year. The strategy articulates our commitment to tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. It sets out the objectives that, when achieved, will help us fulfil the purposes of the Act. 

In developing the national training framework on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, we have set out our requirements for training on these subjects across the public service and specialist third sector. The framework also includes a specialist subject syllabus, which will ensure that any training accessed locally by any profession meets the learning outcomes and can be properly assessed and is consistent with other training delivered across Wales.

'Understanding FGM' is one of the training courses within the specialist syllabus. The course covers current law and policy relating to FGM in Wales and the UK, including the Serious Crime Act 2015. Alongside this, we're developing 'ask and act', which will be rolled out across the public sector and help professionals recognise the signs of abuse and violence, and 1,200 employees of the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health board and south-east Wales local authorities have been trained to 'ask and act'. There are 98 'ask and act' champions in south-east Wales and this pilot will provide a clear model of 'ask and act', which will be rolled out further in the rest of 2017.

For health professionals, there is the FGM care pathway for Wales, which promotes referral of any woman affected by FGM into primary care mental health services or third sector provision. FGM safeguarding leads have been appointed in all health boards in Wales. A data-collection process has been developed; monthly data on women and girls identified with FGM is being collated by Public Health Wales from maternity services. Any female infants born to women who've undergone FGM are being referred as a matter of course to social services for a protective intervention. To date, around 10 women per quarter have been identified with FGM and we are looking into the routine publication of information on FGM, which is currently collected.

Later this month, we'll be marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day is an important reminder that there is still much to do in ending violence against women and girls and ensuring gender equality. I want to say that I will also be taking a huge interest myself in this area and will be very much welcoming a lot of liaison with everyone in this Assembly who has any idea of any other things that we can do. I certainly will be taking forward the cross-government approach that has been highly recommended. We also need to make sure, as Julie Morgan highlighted, that whilst we condemn the crime, the act and the violence, we do not condemn the communities that have this ingrained within them and that we do much to help them come to terms with where they are and develop as well.

We remain highly motivated and fully committed to continuing to prevent violence and abuse and to protect and support those who have been affected by these dreadful practices. Diolch.