We move to item 6, a statement by the Minister for Social Justice, the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy. I call on the Minister, Jane Hutt.

Deputy Llywydd, I know that my statement today on the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy will strike a chord across the Senedd. There was strong support for tackling violence against women expressed in this Chamber over the past few weeks and months, and I'm very pleased about that.

You will be aware that I worked in the early days of setting up Women’s Aid refuges in Wales, with the first Government grant in Wales to co-ordinate a network of specialist providers and seek legislative backing to address the abuse of power and misogyny that lies behind much of the violence that women face. But I now have the opportunity, as Minister for Social Justice, to drive forward our next phase of action with survivors to tackle violence against women, which is endemic in society, as recent events have shown.

We were all shocked by the events of this summer. The murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and Wenjing Lin have brought into frightening relief the toxic masculinity that led violent men to murder them and the focus that is placed on women’s behaviour rather than that of the perpetrators.

However, there's been an important change in the public’s reaction to these events. I welcomed the public response that sought to honour their memory by tackling the misogyny that killed them and reclaiming them as human beings with real lives, not as victims. I've been particularly heartened by the male voices we've heard recognising that male violence lies at the heart of this problem and, therefore, that men have an important role to play as part of the solution.

This is the public mood we seek to harness and lead with this violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy. Women have long found allies amongst men, such as those among you who champion the White Ribbon campaign we're currently celebrating. We must now turn that support into leadership that stretches across the whole of society, so that cat-calling, harassment, sexist banter and objectification do not provide the foundation stones on which abuse, coercion, rape and murder take place.

We've achieved a lot in Wales in tackling VAWDASV, yet still domestic abuse is the biggest killer of women aged 19 to 44 in the UK. I will repeat that to allow it to sink in: in the UK, domestic abuse kills more women aged 19 to 44 than breast cancer. One hundred and fifteen women have been killed by men so far this year, and one in four women will experience domestic abuse and one in five sexual assault in their lifetime. Whilst we can acknowledge what we have achieved, the scale of the challenge and the commitment we all need to make is clearly illustrated by that fact; a fact that I'm sure we are all determined to change.

So, how will the strategy make a difference? This strategy is built on a strengthened partnership. We've operated with a considerable amount of commitment between key partners, both statutory, in the specialist sector, and with survivors. But, we need to strengthen the structures of leadership and governance to ensure that action is co-ordinated and directed so that, collectively, we offer more than the sum of our parts.

Much of the response to VAWDASV falls to non-devolved bodies, such as the police or the prison and probation service. If we are to make our contributions complement each other, if we are to be accountable to each other, then we need a governance system that can drive real collaboration. This, then, is a whole-Wales public sector strategy that is signed up to not just by the Welsh Government, but also by relevant non-devolved bodies.

The national partnership board featured in these new arrangements in the strategy will bring together devolved and non-devolved partners. I will co-chair this board with Dafydd Llywelyn, the lead police and crime commissioner for Wales for the four police forces. Development of this blueprint approach was discussed at the policing and partnership board on Thursday 2 December, which I chaired, with strong commitment to the new strategy expressed by the four chief constables, police and crime commissioners and their partners. The board will also be populated with the voices of a diverse group of survivors to co-produce our solutions and monitor our progress.

Tackling street harassment is an important part of this strategy. It's central to our view that by reducing the overall level and increasing the unacceptability of street harassment and the attitudes that lie behind it, we reduce the overall likelihood of violence against women and girls, domestic abuse and sexual violence by challenging the misogyny that lies beneath it.

Equally, workplace harassment has a significant impact on life chances for individuals; gender equality as well as cross-sectional equality issues such as race, disability and LGBTQ+. We will work with social partners to tackle workplace harassment.

Learning from public health approaches, we will work with perpetrators to both challenge and support those who carry out abuse to both deter and facilitate enduring change in their behaviour.

We want to continue to develop our work with professionals to equip them to identify, challenge and refer cases of VAWDASV through programmes such as 'ask and act' and the 'identification and referral to improve safety', or IRIS, scheme engaging general practitioners at the frontline, but we will also bolster our wider public awareness campaigns to reflect our focus on prevention.

We’ll facilitate change at the whole-society level by leading public discussion to de-normalise violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence and the attitudes that support it.

Finally, Deputy Llywydd, I want to highlight the co-productive aspect of the strategy. The voices of survivors from different communities and backgrounds will be integral to developing our strategy in a way that can work in the real world. Listening to those diverse voices will help us to find solutions that build on the strengths of survivors.

This is a cross-Government strategy with active engagement and support from ministerial colleagues in education, health, housing, local government and the economy. Of particular relevance to the strategy has been the follow-up to the 'Everyone’s Invited' report, with an Estyn inspection due to report shortly, and expectations of the role that the new curriculum will play in a positive role in the development of healthy, respectful relationships between our children and young people.

In developing this strategy, we have been supported by the involvement of a number of stakeholders. Clearly, we are at a consultative stage, so we remain open to the responses that will flow from this consultation, but I’m confident that we’ve formed a very strong base for this strategy, and I call on Members to commit their support to its delivery. Those who are exposed to violence against women and girls, domestic abuse and sexual violence will expect this of us as we strive for Wales to become the safest place to live for women and girls, where we all have a right to live fear free.

Conservative spokesperson, Mark Isherwood.

Diolch. Working alongside Plaid Cymru’s Jocelyn Davies and Liberal Democrat, Peter Black, I was one of the three party spokespeople in the fourth Assembly who took the Welsh Government to the line over passage of the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, securing Welsh Government pledges in several areas. We called for a commitment to introduce healthy relationships education in schools, citing Hafan Cymru’s Spectrum Project, which I and others had observed in the classrooms as a best practice model to help prevent abusive behaviours from developing. Speaking here three years ago, I challenged you over the delay in implementing this. How do you respond to concern that the relationships and sexuality education, or RSE code forming part of the new Curriculum for Wales, which is before the Senedd next week, appears not to provide guidance for teachers on what constitutes acceptable, age-appropriate material, leaving them in the unenviable position of having to make the decision themselves, in contrast to the 'plan your relationships, sex and health curriculum' guidance for schools in England? And, given that Hafan Cymru states that it is part of the Welsh Government’s drive to deliver sessions in schools, focused on healthy relationships, how will you ensure that this will not be lost to internal provision as schools implement the new RSE code?

During the passage of the Act, I moved amendments calling for the national strategy to include provision of at least one perpetrator programme. As Relate Cymru have told committee, 90 per cent of the partners they questioned some time after the end of their programme said that there had been a complete stop in violence and intimidation by their partner. The Minister responded then that he did not consider my amendment appropriate, but had jointly funded research to help inform future responses to perpetrators. Speaking here four years ago, I highlighted evidence that the cross-party group on violence against women and children that Relate’s programme, Choose2Change, was the only current Respect-accredited programme in Wales. Speaking here three years ago, I raised questions over pre-custodial perpetrator programmes and how they will reflect the Respect accreditation standards. However, the only mention of perpetrators in the latest violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence national advisors’ annual plan refers to exploring a blueprint for the whole system, that aims, amongst other things, to hold perpetrators accountable. What, therefore, Minister, is the current state of play?

Speaking here four years ago, I noted that Welsh Women’s Aid were concerned about the lack of health budget being invested in specialist violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence providers. Speaking here 20 months ago, remotely, I referred to the letter sent to you by Welsh Women’s Aid stating that violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence specialist services across Wales have expressed confusion, frustration and concern as to what additional funding is being made available as a response to COVID-19. What action have you, therefore, taken since to ensure sustainable funding for these essential services in both normal and exceptional times?

The crime survey for England and Wales shows that women were more likely to be victims of each type of abuse—sexual, non-sexual and stalking—except sexual assault by a family member than men, with seven in 100 women aged 16 to 74 experiencing domestic abuse in a single year. However, as I stated here three years ago, North Wales Police had announced that a quarter of their domestic abuse reports involved men, and the crime survey for England and Wales states that 42 per cent of the cases they're now picking up are affecting men and that three quarters of suicides are men. In your response, you stated that

'the scale of the problem is nothing like what the figures that the Member quoted would lead you to believe.'

Well, they were official figures. Of course, women are far more likely than men to be killed by partners or ex-partners, but men can be victims too, and the number of men killed as a result of domestic violence has been rising. Of course, there are different contexts applying to domestic abuse against women and men. However, surely we should be working to support all victims of violence and domestic abuse, using strategies and proven interventions that deliver this.

During the passage of the Act, I also put down an amendment calling for what Welsh Women's Aid had called for in the past, which were gender-specific strategies for men and women. Again, the Minister stated that this wouldn't be in the Act but the need would be addressed as we move forward.

How will you therefore deliver on the Welsh Government's pledge during the passage of the Act that this would be addressed? Diolch.

Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood, and thank you for your continued support since you played that key role as we got through the Welsh Government's Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 legislation. And it was very much cross-party engagement that led us to that all-important Act, the first of its kind to be on the statute book. And I'm glad that you have made reference to the importance of the work that we're doing in education with young people, particularly looking at the work of Spectrum; raising children and young people's awareness of equality, respect and consent is crucial if we're to stop violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. And the relationships and sexuality education, of course, as you know—and we were all proud to put this through on to the statute book in terms of the curriculum Bill earlier on this year—it will be a statutory part of the new curriculum for all learners, and we continue to fund Hafan Cymru's Spectrum project.

I think some of you might have seen the, I thought, very good, excellent programme—I thank ITV Wales for a programme presented by Ruth Dodsworth, who was actually a victim of coercive control, last night. She was presenting the programme about tackling coercive control, and, actually, we saw the impact of Hafan Cymru's Spectrum work in schools and the impact it had on young girls and on young boys in terms of learning about developing healthy and respectful relationships, and it's delivering training for school staff and governors. Over 150,000 children and young people have been educated about healthy relationships through the Spectrum project since 2015, since the legislation came into force.

I will comment on the budget issue, because the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence revenue budget for 2021-22 is £6.825 million, and that's including non-recurrent funding—an increase from the 2020-21 budget. And that was additional funding, recognising the impact of the pandemic, seeing the need to put further support to service providers, vital services to deal with increasing demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also increasing the allocation to third sector organisations by a 4 per cent uplift for one year, to ensure they could respond to the increased demand as a result of the pandemic. More money into capital as well, to ensure that we could engage, enable, fix assets to be adapted and equipped, and also for more appropriate buildings and equipment for those working in the sector.

Now, we're working at all levels, and I think in terms of addressing the issues and the forthcoming strategy, I hope that you will—and I'm sure that you will respond to the consultation fully—recognise that we have got a focus on stopping violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. This is an issue that is a matter for society. It requires a societal response. We've got to change attitudes and change behaviours as well, and I think we will do that through education. I've already commented on the work that's being carried out in the new curriculum, but also, very shortly, we will have the Estyn report responding to sexual harassment in schools following the Everyone's Invited report. The outcome of that review will also guide us in our work to keep more children and young people safe, as well as looking to the role of relationship and sexuality education, RSE.

But I do think it's very important, in terms of the statement I've made today, to recognise the level of violence against women. I have, of course, mentioned the fact that we need to work with perpetrators, and that's what the Drive programme is doing, which is funded by the police and crime commissioners. We need to work with perpetrators to change their behaviour, but that is also about challenging the misogyny and toxic masculinity, which, actually, I have to say, when we did come together on the steps of the Senedd, cross-party, it was great that men from each party spoke up so clearly about how they wanted to challenge male violence in Wales and to make a real change in terms of the way forward.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Sioned Williams.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the statement from the Minister today and the actions set out to tackle the current unacceptable level of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, which is scarring our society here in Wales. The latest statistics, as the Minister mentioned, show clearly that we need to do more to tackle the situations that lead to these types of violence at root, and that we need to create a step change in social attitudes in order to eliminate behaviours that cause trauma, that cause suffering, that cause psychological and physical harm and that, in too many cases, kill.

Up to the last financial year, according to a recent report by Welsh Women's Aid, the waiting list for people who needed support services as a result of sexual violence was over 300, and nearly 700 people were unable to gain access to refuge. The difficulties in terms of accessing support were compounded during the pandemic as survivors were left feeling alone due to the limited means available of accessing support and accessing services. And it was a particularly difficult time for survivors who are members of groups of already disadvantaged people in our society, for example people with disabilities. The quote contained in the report by Welsh Women's Aid is worth recounting, I think, so that we can all hear what it is like to find yourself in that situation:

'I couldn't phone services, friends or families and certainly couldn't risk accessing any help because everything was being monitored. Being deaf had its own issues but I am aware that accessing services wouldn't have been able to meet my needs if I had managed to make a call, I wouldn't have been able to hear the response.'

Such experiences are a symptom, I think, of the current deficiencies in the strategy and the way in which services are funded.

Only this morning on Radio Cymru I heard Rhian Bowen-Davies, who was appointed first national adviser for violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence back in September 2015, confirm that the voices of survivors are not being adequately listened to, especially those from marginalised and disadvantaged groups. 

I am therefore encouraged to see the Government's commitment to a more holistic approach to this issue, and particularly welcome the steps mentioned in the strategy around listening better to those with lived experience. Welcome too is the commitment to a national framework to try and improve on the too often current postcode lottery that exists for survivors.

However, Minister, the specialist sector has noticed a change in language in the strategy as published, from 'sustainable funding' to 'appropriate funding'. So, can the Minister confirm it will be upholding its commitment to developing a strategic, sustaining funding model for the specialist sector that will ensure every survivor has access to the support they need?

The last time I spoke to the Minister regarding funding in this Chamber she noted that the revenue budget this year would increase by over £1.5 million on the previous year, and that allocation to third sector organisations had also increased by 4 per cent, and that this would help the increasing demand on support services. Does the Minister think these increases in funding will be adequate to deliver the ambitions of this strategy, and how were these figures decided upon? As there is no budget commitment to accompany the strategy, will there be an accompanying implementation plan to ensure the objectives of this strategy are met?

I was wondering if the Minister could provide details also on the stated objective of making early intervention and prevention a priority, as, of course, sustainable funding also protects women and girls from trauma, but also helps funding issues for support services when they do experience gendered violence. Part of this, of course, would involve ensuring that perpetrators of violence against women and girls are caught in the very first instance of this behaviour and that their behaviour is not allowed to escalate, so being able to tackle misogyny for what it is, a hate crime, would assist in this goal. I know the Minister noted before, when we spoke, that she was waiting for input from the policing partnership board and also the Law Commission. The findings of the Law Commission review have been published today, findings that a coalition of 20 women's rights campaign groups have termed a failure to address the widespread concerns about a lack of action by the criminal justice system. Could the Minister therefore give me her response to these recommendations?

And finally, could the Minister please outline how the national framework outlined in the strategy would be enforced so as to ensure that specialist service delivery and support are consistent across Wales? What steps can be taken to ensure the standards of delivery meet the required level? Diolch.

Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. I'm really pleased to have those questions this afternoon. And to perhaps start on that final point about how we're going to ensure that this is different and that this is implemented, I think this is why proposing a blueprint approach, strengthening the governance, the multi-agency co-operation, particularly with the police—. Because it is quite clear that, in terms of the criminal justice system, we have to strengthen not only just the fact that women can have confidence in it, and that we also see that confidence is translated into actions, convictions, and also to see this as part of the way in which—and I think the First Minister referred to it—the police themselves have set up their own taskforce, involving all the police forces in Wales. And it think it's important that I'm co-chairing the national partnership board with the lead police and crime commissioner. So, it is quite clear that they have got to deliver on the—. It's going to be jointly owned, and committed to putting in place this structure for shared decision making. Actually, the blueprint approach is working well in terms of the development of our youth justice and female offending blueprints in Wales.

Early intervention and prevention are a priority, as you say. And I just want to focus on your concerns about funding, the sustainable commissioning. I've already mentioned the sums of money that have gone in and the increase in funding, but our national adviser Yasmin Khan has done pioneering work chairing a sustainable commissioning review with all the specialist providers—difficult during the pandemic, but we recognise we need effective commissioning approaches to ensure there's a national delivery in terms of funding, better pooling of resources, aligning of the procurement approaches that we have, so we gain more for the public investment that goes into VAWDASV. So, we've got the existing commissioning guidance, which is being reviewed, based on the national adviser's commissioning group, to implement that, but it also is in terms of the investment that has to come from across Government, not just Welsh Government, but local government, so it's actually funding from health, housing, education and safeguarding departments as well. Because this is all about improving the quality of services. So, commissioning guidance does advocate commissioning services that are needs led, and this is to make sure that we've got funding for services to reach diverse needs and landscapes.

I'm very pleased that you also mentioned the particular needs and issues of diversity—I mentioned it in my statement—for example, the experience of disabled women, disabled people, who then felt very trapped, particularly during the lockdown. So, I do want to draw attention to our Live Fear Free helpline, the 24/7 service for victims and survivors of domestic abuse, but, clearly, there are issues around accessibility even to that, but also to say that we do need to publicise the 999 and pressing 55 when operators answer, so the police are geared up to responding. But engaging with the disability equality forum as well, in terms of the consultation, I will be seeking their views, as well as, of course, from our race equality forum as well. You also make some very important points in terms of the delivery of this strategy, in terms of early intervention and also prevention. This is where it has to be a multi-agency approach.

And I'll finally say that the voices of survivors must be at the centre of everything we do. I always recall one of the very first women who came into the refuge in Cardiff that I was involved in. She won't mind me mentioning her—Monica Walsh. She was such a strong person. She eventually, not long ago, became the Lord Mayor of Cardiff. We saw then that survivors had to guide us in how we developed those specialist services, and we've got to do that in this new strategy. They should be at the centre of everything we do. We heard survivors, didn't we, at the vigil a few weeks ago. I've actually insisted that they are there at every level of this new strategy. But we do also have to engage with perpetrators of VAWDASV, continuing to challenge their actions, seeking to understand what works in preventing perpetration so that we can protect those who would otherwise be abused. But our national survivor engagement framework will be strengthened by this strategy. 

I had a meeting yesterday with South Wales Police, and they reported a massive increase in domestic violence as well as a significant number in the increase of murders. Obviously, the numbers, numerically, for murders are very small, but still it's symptomatic of some of the stresses that have been caused by the lockdown and everything that's gone with it, particularly the economic consequences of it all. And I was just reflecting on what we need to do to respond—all of us. Because the police can't be everywhere all of the time. If we see it, we say it and it's sorted, as they say endlessly on the trains in relation to terrorism. But we all have an obligation. If we see something we don't think is right, where somebody is being abused, particularly if it's a child, we surely need to tell somebody—not try and sort it ourselves, but tell people who are authorised to sort these things out. Because otherwise we will always go on to this vicious cycle of violence, because the children who witness domestic violence, I'm sure you would agree, Minister, after your longstanding—

You need to ask a question now. 

—encouragement in all this, are the ones who either go on to being victims themselves or being perpetrators. And we have to put a stop to this revolving door. So, I hope—. I look forward to the report on Everyone's Invited by Estyn, because I'm sure that will give us some important markers for what we need to do to change. 

Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. Well, I will just focus on that point about children. We're actually seeking the voices of children and young people in the consultation on the draft strategy. We're working with our partners to ensure their voices are heard. We've got an online survey planned, specifically targeted at children and young people, and the Children's Commissioner for Wales, NSPCC, Children in Wales, Welsh Women's Aid, New Pathways, Bawso, they're all engaging with us to ensure that they can be part of that. And they, of course, benefit from the work that's being done by Hafan Cymru's Spectrum project. We're also very keen—I'm meeting with the Minister for Education and Welsh Language—. We've got some time to go to get the curriculum actually embedded, the relationships and sexuality education curriculum, and what he's saying is, 'What are we doing now?' because all education settings in Wales actually have a legal duty to ensure that children have access to a safe learning environment but that they can also report on their lived experiences.

I just want to finally say that all four police forces in Wales are taking this issue incredibly seriously—more seriously than I've ever known—recording incidents, providing more training, ensuring a robust response to hold perpetrators to account, working in partnership with local authorities and health to provide that joined-up and coherent response. And I hope that you will, perhaps even through the committee, be able to ask the police to show how they're engaging with this. I know that this is going to be a step change, and 'don't be a bystander' is the message—'ask and act', be brave—and this has been said across this Chamber on a number of occasions, which is very welcome.

Thank you, Minister. Your statement is once again, as always on these subjects, very, very welcome. Any violence against women and girls cannot and should not be tolerated within today's society. The fact that domestic abuse is the biggest killer of women aged 19 to 44—as you say in your statement, Minister, even more than breast cancer—is a sobering reminder of the urgent need to tackle domestic abuse and the misogynistic behaviours in our society.

Education, I feel, could be a very useful tool in helping to tackle domestic abuse, and this is why I'd like to focus on this. Instilling what healthy relationships are in the minds of our children and young people, I think, will be a key step forward in rooting out these behaviours, so I'm pleased that discussion and education on this will be incorporated in the new curriculum; in fact, it was one of the major key turning points for me from not supporting the education Bill last term to then supporting it, because I was so enthralled and pleased to see that this would form part of the new curriculum, because these conversations need to be had. And I truly believe incorporating it will go a long way to helping to tackle it.

Minister, I'd be grateful if you could outline the impact of teaching this to young people and how it will be monitored and measured to ensure that it is having the desired effect, and the quality and content of delivery being important, obviously, and I'm sure you'll agree, its age appropriateness as well as the consistency, of course, of the approach across all schools. And what discussions have you had with the education Minister on who is going to be best placed to teach and educate on these matters—teachers themselves or outside bodies with expertise in talking about this to young people? Because—

You need to conclude now.

[Inaudible.]—in the education Bill, but now is the time for that detail, please, and what moneys will follow to ensure that these ambitions are reached. Thank you.

Diolch yn fawr, Laura Anne Jones, and thank you for responding in such a constructive and positive way to my statement. I'm glad that you have repeated that appalling statistic in my statement, the fact that 115 women have been killed by men so far this year and that domestic abuse is the biggest killer of women aged 19 to 44 in the UK. We have to repeat that statistic to remind us that it's endemic and we have to make that change.

I did want to just mention in terms of schools, because I've responded quite a bit about the relationships and sexuality education, the response to the Estyn report coming forward from the education Minister, working very closely, not just myself, but also the Deputy Minister for Social Services in terms of children's safeguarding. But I think I also want to acknowledge the Wales police schools programme, which you may all be aware of. We've supported that; again, it's not devolved, policing, but we support the Wales police schools programme. We invest £1.98 million each year and that's matched by the four police forces, and actually, they've broadened the scope of what they address when they come into schools, and you'll know how many pupils respond very positively to the Wales schools programme. So, now, the core programme includes domestic abuse, bullying, online safety, sexting, child sexual exploitation, consent; a very balanced programme within primary and secondary schools. We're reviewing the programme to see how we can move that forward, and also adapting it to respond to the concerns raised by the Everyone's Invited website. Again, this is about the work that we can do in schools; we've got a real opportunity in Wales with our new curriculum. I also want to say that Amanda Blakeman, deputy chief constable, and also deputy police and crime commissioner Eleri Thomas are assuring us that they're going to ensure that the schools police programme is actually geared to responding particularly to the Everyone's Invited website and report, which of course now Estyn's responding to, and the Minister will be responding to their report in due course.

I want to thank the Welsh Government for their continued work on this strategy, and also the Minister for ensuring that the onus of violence against women does not fall on women to modify their behaviour. For too long in our history the narrative has focused on the actions of the victim and not enough on how we put an end to violence against women, because there are no victims without perpetrators.

It is positive to see that, in many local authorities across Wales, work is already taking place to address the issue of violence against women. In my own constituency of Bridgend, Bridgend County Borough Council has introduced a groundbreaking perpetrator scheme. Within the scheme, effort is put in to safeguarding victims and also rehabilitating perpetrators to end any future cycles of abuse. And with the recent cases of spiking in the night-time economy, we cannot let the narrative shift from the root cause of the problem. We must start by changing the culture that has allowed attacks such as these to occur so frequently.

So I just wanted to end by asking the Minister, I suppose, how much you are aware of the perpetrator schemes and how they're spreading across Wales, and your support for those. And also I would like to recognise, as you said, the many survivors who have contributed to this scheme. They have been incredibly brave and selfless in sharing their stories so that they can protect and save lives.

Thank you very much to Sarah Murphy, and also thank you for drawing attention to the very good practice in Bridgend with the perpetrator scheme. Just recognising the importance of—I mean, it's a statutory duty for local authorities to be delivering, five years on from the legislation coming into force, but working in partnership and to recognise that this is something fundamental in terms of how we address this.

I will take the opportunity just to respond not in answer to Sarah Murphy, but to a question that was raised with me earlier on as well by Sioned Williams. We're very disappointed about the Law Commission's report on hate crime today, the fact that they haven't recommended that sex or gender be added as a protected characteristic in terms of our call for misogyny to be recognised. I'm very disappointed about other decisions not to add age as a protected characteristic in hate crime laws, and include also people who are homeless, sex workers or alternative sub-cultures. So, we realise we've got to make our representations to the UK Government, but I'd like to assure Sarah Murphy that we are working very closely with non-devolved partners in police, as is Bridgend council, and thank the local authority for taking the initiative and being ahead in terms of what we want to achieve in the strategy.

It's sad to hear those statistics today in terms of domestic violence. I visited the police sergeant responsible for Dwyfor Meirionnydd recently, and he said that over the last year or two, the number of cases of domestic violence has increased incredibly. What saddened me even more was a visit with the Wales Air Ambulance last Friday in Dinas Dinlle, and they said that their calls have now increased significantly, and they were going out because of domestic violence. It demonstrates the challenge facing us, so thank you very much for your statement.

I want to focus on one particular point. In objective six in your written statement, you say:

'Provide victims with equal access to appropriately resourced high quality needs led, strength based, gender responsive services across Wales.'

Will you expand on what exactly you mean by 'equal access'? I've noted in the past, in a conversation with you here in the Chamber, the fact that there is only one sexual assault referral centre in north Wales, which is in Colwyn Bay, and we need to see more of these. So, what exactly does providing 'equal access' to all victims mean, and will you ensure that rural communities don't miss out? Thank you.

I thank the Member very much for those questions, searching questions. It is going to be, in this strategy, as you know, we are extending the remit of the strategy to include not just violence in the home, but violence in the street, in the workplace, and to look a lot more fully at sexual violence and sexual violence services, and to ensure that, when we say 'equal access', it comes back to that question from your colleague about sustainable commissioning and making sure that we have an all-Wales approach. So that's about standards that are going to be set in terms of that sustainable commissioning and the delivery of services, and making sure that we have effective strategic planning and a national framework of standards that can enhance and work towards those sustainable funding arrangements for the VAWDASV sector in Wales. So, that actually has to and will include rural communities. I remember the event that Joyce Watson led, when we looked specifically at domestic abuse and violence against women in rural communities, and that was led with the National Federation of Women's Institutes. We have that spread across as every local authority has that statutory responsibility, but in terms of overall funding, we will ensure that the whole of Wales, including rural areas, will be engaged, and the sexual assault referral centres, of course, have to be supported to meet needs across Wales.

For the record, in 2018 I became a proud White Ribbon ambassador, and I very much welcome today's statement from the Minister. But, I want to start with a statement and a simple message that cannot be said enough: it is men that have to change if we are to tackle violence against women and misogyny. Deputy Presiding Officer, we've heard today from the Minister and Members across the Chamber of the shocking and deeply troubling statistics, which I won't repeat, but whenever I speak about violence against women, I always receive the same message: what about men? Now, whilst domestic abuse against men is a very real and very serious issue, it is important to note that of all homicides, 38 per cent of female victims are killed by a current or former partner. Now, the White Ribbon campaign is about getting men to understand that scale of the problem. It's also to understand that it is our problem as men—not women, men. But despite all of the work White Ribbon are doing and many other organisations are doing, some men are proving harder to reach than others. Minister, therefore, can I ask you what action the Welsh Government can take to encourage organisations, large or small, across Wales to take the White Ribbon promise and spread this extremely important message?

Can I thank Jack Sargeant for that very important statement preceding his question? And just to say, you are playing such an important role, Jack Sargeant, today in asking the question and revealing the challenges that you face by speaking up, by not being a bystander, by being a White Ribbon ambassador. So, you are a role model. All our male colleagues can be role models in this, and I hope you will all sign up to be White Ribbon ambassadors. You're a role model as a young man, you're widely respected and admired by your peers, so that's hugely powerful and important. 

I just wanted to also thank the Minister for Education and Welsh Language who recently took initiatives to tackle online misogyny. You may be aware that in partnership with the Football Association of Wales, he launched a campaign, including a very powerful film featuring Welsh football players discussing real life examples of online abuse. Education is the key, isn't it, to the change? But I was very proud, and I'm sure colleagues will be, when we saw Gwent Police cadets, young cadets, at the vigil that Joyce Watson organised a few weeks ago, alongside firefighters, the public services, people who want to be White Ribbon ambassadors. We can make that change if we can heed Jack Sargeant's call tonight, I would say, to get everyone on board for the White Ribbon campaign. We will certainly be calling for it, not just in the public sector, but in the private and third sectors as well.

Finally, James Evans.

Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, thank you for your statement. It was very moving and humbling to join you and other colleagues across this Chamber and, more importantly, the survivors of domestic violence the other night, and I want to reaffirm my commitment and my party's commitment to ending violence and domestic violence against women.

Sadly, harassment, abuse and violence are daily occurrences for women, and for far too long, women have conditioned their lives, changed their behaviours and taken different routes home, when the reality is that it's not for women to change their behaviours, it's for men to change ours. Men have a really important role here and we must speak out, help shape Government policy and be a part of the solution. So, Minister, can you outline to me in the Chamber—I know you've raised this earlier—what cross-Government work has been done, wider than just the curriculum, to educate young people about healthy relationships, and to encourage people to call out misogyny and hate crimes when they see them? Diolch.

Diolch yn fawr, James Evans. This is just what we need, isn't it, in terms of the response to the statement today? You were very powerful on the steps of the Senedd when you talked about being a father as well, and I think other speakers—Rhun ap Iorwerth and others, and Jack Sargeant—spoke so powerfully. So, you are part of the solution, and thank you for the support of your party, as I think we have cross-party agreement across this Chamber. It is not for women to modify their behaviour; it is for abusers to change theirs. And if this message can come out from today, that's all the more important. I think I've covered some of the points that you raised. I think the police schools programme is important. It's another intervention outside the school curriculum. We are going to have a very powerful opportunity with the school curriculum changes as well. But also, I think, as I said in response to Jenny Rathbone, the voices of children and young people are going to be very key to the consultation on the draft strategy. That's never happened before. So, they are going to help us. They are the future. They are the ones who are also targeted, particularly through social media, for some of the horrendous ways in which misogyny is deepened and becomes endemic. We saw—and I think, Janet Finch-Saunders, you might have seen that programme, and others did—how young boys were saying, 'We've seen what's wrong about the way that men and boys can treat women'. That was the learning from that Hafan Spectrum programme. That's got to happen in every classroom, as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you, Minister.