3. What is the Welsh Government doing to address violence against women and girls? OQ57258

I thank Joyce Watson for that, Llywydd. We are strengthening our violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy to include violence and abuse in public and in the workplace, as well as in the home. A public consultation on the strategy will be launched next month. This is a societal problem that requires a societal response.

Thank you, First Minister. I know your Government continues to prioritise this issue, and in Jane Hutt we have a Minister for Social Justice who is a tireless champion for victims and survivors. But, unfortunately, the political determination to get on top of male violence against women and girls is too often undermined by the failures in the criminal justice system. The latest Office for National Statistics figures for England and Wales are a stark reminder of that: rape cases up 10 per cent from last year to June, while the number of cases resulting in a charge is at a record low. Of course, the legislation and many of the funding cuts behind these figures are non-devolved, but as we approach White Ribbon Day on Thursday, and the 16 days of activism that will follow, will you discuss with police forces and crime commissioners the urgent need to prioritise women and girls' safety?

I thank Joyce Watson for that, Llywydd. Can I begin just by paying tribute to everything that she does throughout the year, and around the White Ribbon period as well, to highlight the issues that she has referred to again today? She's absolutely right that the points she raises are very important ones to the Welsh Government and very vigorously taken forward by the Minister for Social Justice. She meets very regularly with chief constables and with the police and crime commissioners. The lead police and crime commissioner at the moment, Llywydd, is the Dyfed-Powys police and crime commissioner, Dafydd Llywelyn. I know that the Minister met him last week and is due to meet him again on 16 December. The Policing Partnership Board for Wales will meet on 2 December. That will be an opportunity for us to continue the dialogue that we have established with our police forces. They're not devolved, as Joyce Watson said, but we have managed to create a set of institutional arrangements that make sure that the issues that are of concern to people in Wales are discussed there regularly, directly with police interests themselves, but with other partners as well in the local authorities, in the health service. We will be raising the issues that the Member has identified today again in that forum, and I want to say, Llywydd, for the record, that in our experience we get a very committed response from our partners and our police partners here in Wales. 

This is an exceptionally important topic, especially this week ahead of White Ribbon Day, and I'd like to put on record my thanks to Joyce Watson for all her work in raising awareness of this important issue. We welcome the fact that, now, harassment has been included in the Live Fear Free campaign, but for those who reach out and escape violent situations for good, many will have to rebuild their lives from scratch, and support can often fall short, especially if victims have to flee the area where they've lived. Minister, what additional support will the Welsh Government commit to providing to victims who have had to flee domestic violence, especially when they've had to leave their entire support network behind?

I thank Laura Anne Jones for those important points, Llywydd. She's absolutely right; the impact of domestic abuse is awful in anybody's life, but for people who have to uproot themselves from their own homes, and sometimes from their own communities, then the impact is all the greater. We will go on as a Welsh Government investing in the budgets we provide in this area. We've included an additional £2.5 million in non-recurrent funding this year, partly to help those services deal with the impact of the pandemic, where we know some of the points that the Member just made have been exacerbated—where people haven't had access to outside interests and organisations to whom they might have brought their plight to those people's attention. We're absolutely committed to the agenda and to funding it and look forward to working with others in this Chamber on it in the 12 months ahead.

First Minister, as we've heard, this week marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Every year we mark this day, and yet every year more women die because of male violence, and every day women modify their behaviour to avoid being attacked or killed. It sounds extreme, but that is an everyday calculation that countless women make. You recently supported a Plaid Cymru amendment calling for a Government strategy on preventing sexual assault and harassment. Could you tell us more about that strategy, please, and, importantly, how it will make life safer for women and girls, since 97 per cent of women between 18 and 24 have already experienced harassment in their lives? Four out of five women experience workplace harassment, and at least nine women are suspected to have had their lives taken by male violence in the last year in Wales. If we're talking about eliminating male violence against women, First Minister, it seems we do still have a very steep hill to climb.

Those are dreadful figures that Delyth Jewell has just read out for us, and I absolutely agree with her that this is not a problem to be solved by victims. It is not for women to modify their behaviour in order to reach a solution; it is for men, in the way that they behave, and the way we bring up our children, especially boys, to be part of that solution. Later this week, my colleague the Minister for Social Justice will issue a statement on the annual progress report on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence services here in Wales. We are looking to the report of the Law Commission, which is expected shortly, on recommended changes to hate crime legislation. We need to see a commitment to legislate from the UK Government when that commission report is available. That will help us to frame the strategy that Delyth Jewell referred to. That is being worked on actively by our officials and with our partners, our fantastic advisers in this field, to do the very best we can in Wales.  

Good afternoon, First Minister. I just really want to add as well my thanks to Joyce Watson, particularly for the candlelit vigil last night to mark White Ribbon Day. Thank you very much, Joyce, for organising that. It was an incredibly moving experience, and I'm sure those of us who were there felt it was something that was very important to us all. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

First Minister, over the summer I visited a number of providers in the region that Joyce Watson and I cover, Mid and West Wales, and also I've spoken with Welsh Women's Aid, and I'd like to thank those who spoke with me so openly about their services. One of the issues that I just wanted to pick up was about sustainability of funding for those providers and those services. Many talked to me about the short-term measures and funding that were in place, which causes significant problems in trying to plan services. I'm sure we'd all agree that many of them have provided an excellent service, particularly over the pandemic. So, I just wonder if you could give us a response around sustainability and more long-term funding, please. Diolch yn fawr iawn. 

Thank you to the Member for the question, Llywydd. 

I absolutely do agree with her about the fantastic work that is done by third sector organisations, their partners in local government, and the work that is done by GPs as part of the IRIS project in identifying victims of domestic abuse. This is hard work, Llywydd. These are really difficult areas where people are often frightened to speak up, and the work that is done by people at the front line is absolutely commendable. As the Member will know, we have had to go through a series of years where the UK Government has only declared a one-year budget, pushing back the date of the three-year comprehensive spending review time and again. When we only know how much money we have one year at a time, inevitably, that means that we have to provide funding on that short-term basis to the partners that depend upon the budget decisions we make here. We have a three-year CSR and the ability now to plan ahead. That is really important not just to the Welsh Government itself, but very much to our partners out there in the third sector and in local authorities. Our aim when we lay our draft budget in December will be to pass on whatever certainty we now have to them as well. 

Question 4 [OQ57226] has been withdrawn. Question 5—Alun Davies.