Ending Violence against Women and Girls

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 8 June 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:09, 8 June 2021

Diolch yn fawr. In terms of the particular issues that have come to the surface during the pandemic period and that affect black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the way that Jane Dodds has asked, they're the ones that will be sadly familiar on the floor of the Senedd and that my colleague Joyce Watson has often taken a lead in drawing to our attention: forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honour-based violence and abuse. All of those are matters that have been discussed at the all-Wales leadership group that the Welsh Government jointly chairs, set up to respond to all three forms of abuse, and a forum shared amongst others by BAWSO and the Crown Prosecution Service. What we have focused on in recent times is on the training of front-line staff, to make sure that they are able to recognise and to respond to these sorts of circumstances. Over 650 people were trained in the first quarter of this year, Llywydd, in the voluntary and the statutory sectors—specialist training to understand, identify and respond to instances of honour-based violence. And then because—and this is particularly true in the way that Jane Dodds said in rural areas—we have to rely on a wider range of individuals who may come into contact with people who suffer from these forms of abuse, the VAWDASV national training programme has been focusing on that wider range of workers: delivery drivers, postal workers, community pharmacists, contact tracers—people who are there in communities right across Wales and who are alerted to the risks that some of our fellow citizens find themselves running. Then they are able to spot that, report it and get action to be taken. That wider range of workers and volunteers is especially important in making sure that there is a proper safety net of services in every part of Wales.