7. Plaid Cymru Debate: Rape and Sexual Abuse

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:40 pm on 15 January 2020.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 6:40, 15 January 2020

So, it's really important that we don't say or do anything that feeds into this culture that assumes that when women make these allegations they are lying, because, as Delyth and others have said, that is the underlying assumption. We do not make those assumptions about other victims of other violent crimes. And I'm afraid that this reflects a misogynistic culture. Unless we believe that women are more likely—and most victims are women, though some, of course, are men—to lie than men, then we cannot accept what's going on. And I won't reiterate the statistics that have already been put forward, but I think 3.2 per cent successful prosecutions is the latest figure, and this is only of those cases where allegations are made, and we've heard from many contributors to this debate how difficult it is to make those allegations, how difficult it is to come forward. 

Mark Isherwood in his contribution did, as he always does, make some very good points, but I'm afraid that I find I can't believe what the UK Government is saying now, when, since 2010, as Rhun ap Iorwerth pointed out, the Ministry of Justice budget has been cut by a third. Now, you cannot successfully prosecute, and we don't know—.The Minister's mentioned the review; others have mentioned the review; Mark did himself. And that is very welcome, because there will be complex factors around why the conviction level has dropped, but part of the conviction level dropping will be because the Crown Prosecution Service don't have the resources to go after the more difficult cases. So, if they are picking off the low-hanging fruit, some of the reason for that, I'm sure, will be because resources are so tight. So, until we see more resource into the system, I'm afraid I'm not really very interested in what the central Government is saying. 

I want to touch on Delyth's contribution, because what she said about the shame, the stigma, the fear that people have around reporting is so important, and we do need to change that. And we do need to ensure that our response does not happen in a vacuum, and this is the reason why we support the devolution of criminal justice, so that we can have a consistent approach. I think it was Mark who said that crime is no respecter of borders. Well, no, it isn't, but the way in which we deal with crime is a respecter of borders; it is a political matter—with a small 'p', not a party political matter. And I believe—and I'm glad that the Government is supporting our motion—that we have to have a consistent approach across public services, which we can only have if all those public services are openly and democratically answerable in the same direction. 

I'm very sorry if anybody thinks that bringing this forward is a party political or politically-motivated matter. All I can say is that I and, I know, my colleagues have been contacted today by dozens of survivors, some who've spoken out. One particular survivor contacted me after she heard me and Leanne Wood comment on these issues publicly. And they have thanked us for bringing this forward. And I'm not really concerned if there are some people in this Chamber who are cynical about our motives, because what those survivors think matters to me a great deal more than that. 

There is so much more that I would like to say; I know I don't have time. I just want to comment briefly on the Deputy Minister's contribution—absolutely know her personal convictions on these matters, and I meant also to pay tribute to Joyce Watson for her years of campaigning on these issues, similarly to my Plaid Cymru colleagues. But what I would say to the Minister is that we must ensure—. We don't have the levers yet. Powers are not yet devolved, and we will need to have those debates and ensure that they are. But there are things that we can do now, and one of the things that the Welsh Government could do now is to really invest, picking up on Rhun ap Iorwerth's contribution about the lack of access to counselling. This is something that the Welsh Government could do now, needs to do now. We have seen too many services—local, survivor-led services—losing their funding to bigger organisations who will not understand the victims in the way that they do. 

And I will end this contribution, Llywydd, and thank you for your indulgence, by simply saying that we must all do what we can. It is not good enough for us to sit around and wait for the criminal justice services to be devolved. And we, whose job it is to hold the Government to account, must scrutinise you on how you use your powers now. And I just want to end by saying, to the women, to the victims: I believe you, and I think most of the people in this room do too.