The next item, therefore, is item 8, and that's the statement by the Minister for Social Justice on the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy 2022-26, and I call on the Minister to make that statement. Jane Hutt. 

Diolch, Llywydd. I am grateful to have the opportunity to make this statement to mark the launch of our national VAWDASV strategy and to seek the support of the Senedd, because making Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman or girl is everybody’s business. On the twenty-fourth of last month I published the strategy, having consulted widely on a draft and engaged extensively on its creation. This strategy is an opportunity for the Welsh Government and its partners in the public, private and third sectors to take action to tackle male violence, gender inequality and misogyny head on.

This strategy, which is the second violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence—VAWDASV—national strategy, will cover the period to the end of this administration in 2026. It's marked by a commitment to tackle cause as well as effect, to extend the scope of our actions to the public as well as the private realm, and to build our partnership of devolved and non-devolved agencies alongside the private and third sectors by creating a blueprint governance structure.

Wales has made significant progress in tackling VAWDASV and we have a right to be proud of our record: of the public authorities who have worked tirelessly to create an environment where VAWDASV is challenged; of the specialist services and partners who offer support through services that are responsive and values driven; and of the survivors who have offered their voices and perspective to help others by informing the way we improve. 

Yet we have seen horrific examples of women murdered by violent and abusive men. We have women losing confidence in the judicial system's ability to protect them from rape, and we have young girls who have told Estyn about their daily experience of sexual harassment. Much remains to be done. Our response has to be to challenge the misogyny and toxic masculinity that tarnishes our society and provides the environment in which violence against women and girls, domestic abuse and sexual violence can continue. 

Choosing to focus on male violence is deliberate. I acknowledge that men can be victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence but, even where this is true, the majority of perpetrators are male. And whilst we do want to support all survivors and tackle all perpetrators, we can have the biggest impact through a whole-society approach to challenging the misogyny that lies beneath violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

So, ambition is at the heart of this strategy. Our ambition is to prioritise the successful actions and interventions we want to continue, and define new priorities and approaches to expand and accelerate our response and address VAWDASV as a whole system. This is an all-Wales strategy that depends on collaboration, a key feature of our well-being of future generations way of working, and on prevention. Our programme for government contains a commitment to expand the scope of the strategy to street and workplace harassment. This is therefore a strategy for public authorities, education and housing, and specialist services in the third sector, creating a collective sense of endeavour towards a shared vision and it will make a contribution to our collective well-being goals, in particular a more equal Wales and a healthier Wales. It is also a strategy for business and wider society to make the changes to norms, behaviours and cultures, which will lie at the root of achieving our ambitions.

Our programme for government also sets out our well-being objective to celebrate diversity and eliminate inequality in all its forms. This strategy and the work that will follow will make a significant contribution to this and our collective vision to end violence against women and girls, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. We must challenge societal norms, attitudes and beliefs as these are what perpetuate, excuse and are used to falsely legitimise VAWDASV. We may not end VAWDASV during the life of this strategy, but by setting our sights this high we may well achieve our aim to undermine the environment in which domestic abuse takes place and to de-normalise sexual harassment and violence and the behaviours that enable it in all parts of our society.

Making this strategy a living document will take leadership at all levels and in all parts of the system; leadership from politicians and leaders at all levels in public service, the specialist VAWDASV services, business, survivors and wider civic society. This leadership is exemplified in our multi-agency blueprint approach, overseen by the new national partnership board that I co-chair with police and crime commissioner, Dafydd Llywelyn. We held the inaugural meeting of the board on 23 May and agreed to commission working groups to develop work on street harassment, workplace harassment, sustainable commissioning, tackling perpetrators, children and young people, and older people. Vitally, supporting all of this will be a survivor voice scrutiny and involvement panel, which will ensure that no decisions are taken without a clear understanding of the perspective of those with lived experience. Our actions will therefore be co-produced, as is our strategy, and I commend this approach and our strategy to the Senedd and call on all to support our ambition to end VAWDASV.

Minister, after you published the Welsh Government's violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy 2022-26 on 24 May, Welsh Women's Aid stated that they

'support the Government's ambition but need to witness substance in the actions and accountability in the delivery of this strategy that match it, alongside a sustainably funded sector that that's equipped to deliver it.'

What update can you provide in response to their statement that we now await clarity and detail in the blueprint about how true collaboration and accountability across the sectors and society will work? In other words, what specific actions will you take to establish and monitor this via the blueprint governance structure?

How do you respond to their statement that this strategy

'must be the foundation on which a sustainable funding model is fully realised', where the evidence they've received

'spoke to the wide-reaching detriments of short term, insecure funding for staff and survivors alike'?

How do you respond to their statement that they're

'disappointed to see a lack of commitment and energy given to seeking a Welsh solution for migrant survivors who have no recourse to public funds'?

How do you respond to their insistence that

'the want outlined within the strategy to better understand the issues and barriers facing some minoritised groups...translates into meaningful action, funding, and person-centered, trauma-informed support within the delivery'?

And, although they welcome Welsh Government's commitment to centering survivors' voices, how do you respond to their statement that

'To ensure that these voices are not siloed, or expertise undervalued, is vital'?

Your strategy refers to the UK Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and to the creation of the office of the domestic abuse commissioner, and states that whilst the commissioner does not have a jurisdiction over devolved matters, Welsh public authorities will work collaboratively with the commissioner to further the shared agenda to drive improvement. How will you both ensure and monitor this?

Questioning the First Minister earlier today, I referred to the Welsh Government's defeat of my amendments to the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Bill in 2014, calling for the national strategy to include provision of at least one perpetrator programme, noting that Choose to Change Cymru was then the only current Respect-accredited programme in Wales. Although the then Minister did not accept the need to include reference to perpetrator programmes, he committed the Welsh Government then to gather further evidence on taking forward pre-custodial perpetrator programmes.

After I asked the First Minister earlier what action his Government has taken regarding this, seven years after the Act came into effect, he referred to the third of the six objectives in the renewed five-year national strategy. The strategy does state that the third priority the sub-groups created by the Minister-led national partnership board will initially address is tackling perpetration, and that you intend to build on the work already done in this area by increasing your collective focus on these individuals. Please therefore specify what work has already been done in this area in the six years since the previous First Minister told me these are issues that are being taken forward by the ministerial advisory group, and, of course, by the strategy.

Your strategy states that you will take this approach within the criminal justice system, through policing, prison and probation. So, what related action has the Welsh Government previously taken within the criminal justice system, and how will you engage, for example, with North Wales Police’s domestic abuse perpetrator programme, ADAPT? Further, how will your actions meet the need for pre-custodial perpetrator programmes across Wales?

During the passage of the Act, the three opposition parties worked together to secure concessions from the Welsh Government, including to involve stakeholders from the violence against women sector in developing healthy relationships education within the curriculum, to be followed by all schools. We had each visited schools with Hafan Cymru’s Spectrum project to educate pupils and train teachers about healthy relationships. Now that healthy relationships education is rolling out in schools, how will you ensure that the interactive approach taken by the Spectrum project is prioritised over a 'teacher tells' approach that won’t reach those that need it most?

Finally, in your statement you acknowledge that men can be victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, but add that even where this is true, the majority of perpetrators are male. And of course, that’s true. But, ONS figures state that a third of victims of domestic abuse are men and, critically, boys. Will the Welsh Government therefore ensure that these victims and survivors can access tailored specialist support in a safe space in their own areas, and if yes, how?

Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. I welcome the commitment and the engagement of Welsh Women’s Aid. You referred to their response when I published the strategy in May. They, of course, have been part of the consultation. They have helped to co-produce the strategy and, indeed, they serve on the new national partnership board. The new national partnership is a new way of taking this forward. It’s what we call the blueprint. It brings together devolved and non-devolved organisations, very much in the way that we have been taking forward the female offender and youth justice blueprint. So, it’s strengthening that partnership between devolved and non-devolved, between public bodies, local government, the health service, police, who are co-chairing, and the PCC, Dafydd Llywelyn. It’s a structure for delivery that brings together all of those organisations. It does actually secure joint ownership and commitment for shared decision making and for accountability. Clearly, Welsh Women’s Aid, as members of that board, have worked alongside other specialist organisations, and critically important as far as migrant women and survivors are concerned, of course, is BAWSO. So, I very much welcome all of the points that have been made. We work together to deliver on those, particularly as we have the national partnership board to drive that forward.

I’m very pleased that, yesterday, I was able to give evidence alongside the Minister for Health and Social Services and, indeed, the Deputy Minister for Social Services to the Equality and Social Justice Committee, to respond to their all-important inquiry into the needs of migrant survivors, and to be able to respond to many of the questions that were made, particularly on ways in which we want to support those with no recourse to public funds who are victims of VAWDASV and require support. This is something where we have a steering group that has been set up to look at this. We are also looking at our legal powers in relation to how we can provide financial assistance to help people subject to no recourse to public funds. We have a steering group that is led by the national advisers to the VAWDASV strategy, to look at ways in which we can support those survivors. We supported them through the pandemic because it was a public health imperative that we did support them. I’m looking forward to the results of the inquiry from the Equality and Social Justice Committee, which is crucially important.

I would say that I hope that you would raise, as I did yesterday, my concern that, in fact, the UK Government is trying to say that they can endorse CEDAW, the Istanbul convention, which seeks to eliminate violence against women, by excluding migrant women. Well, you just can't do that. Migrant women have to be included. I hope that you would also support us, and I'm sure the committee will be making those points. You do make important points. There are many questions there, and I'll just deal with as many as I can.

I think the issues around the survivor voice are very important and key to my response already. Voices of survivors must be at the centre of everything we do, so we're actually developing a survivor voice scrutiny and involvement panel, and that has to be a diverse group of survivors, covering the whole spectrum of VAWDASV. That will also be chaired by the national adviser, and it's also drawing from our pre-established survivor groups across Wales. That's crucially important.

The First Minister did respond to the issue and the questions you raised about what we're doing in terms of perpetrators. He rightly drew attention to the objectives of the strategy: increasing the focus on holding those who commit abuse to account, but also supporting those who actually want to change their behaviour and avoid offending. That is the objective: supporting those who may carry out abusive or violent behaviour to change their behaviour. So, we are building on existing programmes, and clearly this is something where we have to ensure that all perpetrators will be held to account, but recognising that this is about addressing the power and control dynamic created by gender inequality. I've been very welcoming of the fact that across this Chamber we've had many of our male colleagues saying that this is about the future for their children, their sons, as well as clearly their daughters, in terms of the ongoing risks in terms of tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. 

Sexual harassment in schools is a priority across the Welsh Government—that every child and young person is supported, that they feel able to report any concerns that they may have. You've mentioned the Hafan programme, which is crucially important. It's done so much good work. I do welcome the work of Estyn in terms of their response. They were asked, of course, by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language to review the culture and processes at secondary schools after the Everyone's Invited website, and they're going to visit schools throughout the autumn. We will be awaiting the conclusions outlined in their review. And, of course, crucially—and this is a real step forward—relationships and sexuality education will be a statutory part of the new Curriculum for Wales.

It is important that we recognise the fact that, as far as men are concerned, there are male victims, but you know, Welsh Government recognise that it is committed primarily but not exclusively by men against women, and that we have to then recognise that. I've talked about what we are doing in terms of perpetrators and holding them to account, but also addressing the ways in which we can support through programmes their awareness and taking responsibility to change. Just in terms of the support or recognition of male victims, last year we provided funding of £16,000 to train professionals who come into contact with male victims in their day-to-day roles—so, that's housing, education, and social care—so that they can identify and recognise and understand the signs displayed by men who are experiencing domestic abuse. We do continue to support the Safer Wales Dyn project. The Dyn project works to enhance safety and increase well-being through a collaborative approach. We provide £75,000 to that project. But, you know, it does go back to how, every three days, there's one death in domestic violence at the hands of men, and every day we see that horrendous pandemic, as it has been described, continuing.

I hope you will be backing the next stage of our strategy as we address the causes, the societal need to respond to this, and also to back this blueprint approach, where we make the changes that we need to make Wales the safest place to live in Europe.

Thank you for the statement, Minister. It’s a little over a year now since I took up my role as Plaid Cymru spokesperson on social justice and equalities, and as you know, I’m also chair of the cross-party group on violence against women and girls, and I’ve heard and I’ve described several times now the starkly worrying statistics that speak of the terrible experiences, the appalling crimes and the hate-filled and prejudiced attitudes that mean that too many people in Wales continue to suffer domestic abuse, sexual violence and gender-based violence. Over 50 women have lost their lives since the VAWDASV Act was first introduced by the Government and tens of thousands more have become survivors of violence and abuse, so the importance of this strategy and the importance of its effective implementation in terms of women's safety cannot be overstated.

Lives are being lost and lives are being destroyed. Just this week, we heard about the murder of Zara Aleena in east London following an atrocious attack. There are constant examples of men at all levels of our society abusing and taking advantage of their privilege and their patriarchal power in society to harass, undermine, control, threaten and, in some cases, physically attack partners. We must demand a zero-tolerance attitude in our workplaces and institutions, in education and in politics to deliver the fundamental societal change that is so greatly needed. I am pleased, therefore, that the strategy recognises that violence against women is an issue for society as a whole, and that it shouldn’t be women’s responsibility to change their behaviour; rather, the onus should be on those who display toxic, misogynistic and dangerous attitudes.   

As a Member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, I have heard evidence that will stay with me forever about the experience of survivors from migrant communities. Minister, the Welsh Government states numerous times throughout the new VAWDASV strategy that it wants to make Wales the safest place to be a woman, but how can you hope to achieve this when many survivors from migrant communities don’t have access to any public funding and so are still unable to access the support that they need? What does 'safety' mean for them? Would the Government consider establishing a crisis fund for the use of specialist support sectors in these cases, as happens in Scotland?  

In their evidence to the committee, and you’ve referred to this already, BAWSO and Public Health Wales draw attention to the fact that despite responding to the consultation, migrant women’s needs haven’t been adequately reflected in the final strategy, and Women’s Aid Wales, as we heard from Mark Isherwood, have also expressed their disappointment in the lack of commitment and energy in the strategy regarding seeking a Welsh solution for migrant survivors who don’t have access to public funding. Will you, Minister, explain why a specific section on migrant women and children, who are so vulnerable and have such need of our support, is missing from the strategy?

While it is more comprehensive in its coverage of children and young people, the new strategy fails to create a specific duty to safeguard children and people in cases of VAWDASV. Children’s charities, such as Barnardo’s and NSPCC have expressed their disappointment about this. Experiencing VAWDASV in your home as a child or young person is a deeply traumatic experience, often with long-lasting and damaging effects, and we all have a duty to ensure that the rights of children and young people are upheld and their well-being prioritised. Could the Minister, therefore, introduce a duty of this kind to ensure that all the victims of VAWDASV are appropriately protected? 

And finally, Minister, in January, Plaid Cymru brought a debate before the Siambr following the concerning increase in cases of stalking. So, what progress has been made in terms of preventing stalking, in terms of encouraging women to report cases of stalking, and how will this strategy protect those who suffer stalking? Thank you.

Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. I think I've expressed all your values, principles and objectives in my statement, and why this statement is a much tougher and stronger recognition about the toxic masculinity and misogyny that underpins the patriarchal abuse of power. For many years, and I was part of it decades ago, we set up a Women's Aid refuge to respond to that, and we have wonderful specialist services, like Welsh Women's Aid, BAWSO and many others, who are responding to that day in, day out, 24/7, but we cannot go on just providing the services and proving the way in which we do, which we have to in terms of commissions and support et cetera, and funding, we've got to tackle the cause. This a real step change. And it has to involve criminal justice agencies. That's why co-chairing with the police and crime commissioner is crucial. But it's also why we have got those specialist services like BAWSO and Welsh Women's Aid sitting on the national partnership board, alongside the NHS, alongside the local authorities, who actually also have to, with the police, Public Health Wales and local government, all play their part. It is going to be a leadership approach.

I do await the important inquiry that is being carried out by the Equality and Social Justice Committee, and I hope we could give you some assurance yesterday that we're looking at every way in which we can address the issues of migrant women. I was very pleased to respond to the SEREDA report that was done, which actually tracked the experiences of migrant women who have left conflict and horrific situations where they've fled. Actually, they're journeys to even escape are often—. Their experience of violence against them threatens them all away in their travel to come to us, to a nation of sanctuary. And I have to say that some of the work, the interviews that were undertaken, saw that, actually, even when they get here, they could feel at risk. We also have to factor in the anti-racist action plan here, because we know that we have to look at this in terms of the intersectional needs and issues of people as they come, as they escape conflict, and then we have to make sure they have a safe place here in Wales.

So, yes, we are looking at the possibility of the development of a fund. We have to look at it in terms, again, of our powers. We've taken legal advice on this, and we'll be taking counsel under the Government of Wales Act, and it is, in principle, I can say, legitimate for Welsh Ministers to use financial assistance to help persons subject to no recourse to public funds. So, we're now working with legal services, so this is current work that's very relevant to the inquiry that's being undertaken. We will get exact advice for us as Ministers in terms of what we can do. We obviously have to look at this in the round in terms of all the other support that we're giving in terms of the VAWDASV budget, and increasing the funding, which we have done this year for our specialist services, but actually looking at this from the sharp end of how we supported, during the pandemic, women, migrant women particularly, because of the pandemic, using our public health powers. And that is still ongoing, but the pressures also in terms of that kind of support we have to assess.

I just will say that the strategy itself is a living document and we await the outcome of the inquiry. But we're looking at all strands of work. We have a work stream on children and young people, and we had a lot of discussion whether it should be intergenerational, children and young people and older people, and we agreed—and I think Mike Hedges was very pleased when I went to meet with the cross-party group on older people—and we said older people need a work stream, and children and young people need a work stream as well. And I can quite foresee that we will need a work stream for migrant women. So, I hope that gives you some assurance that this—and, again, awaiting the outcome of the inquiry—will help inform us as we move forward with this strategy.

I thank you for your statement today, Minister, and I want to thank you again for attending the launch of 'A Duty to Support'. It was a report that I commissioned with Welsh Women's Aid on the provision of support services for children and young people who experience abuse at home. I said earlier and I'll say it again that one in five children witness abuse at home, and there's an urgent need for tailored support for them, and I know that you recognise that.

The research did find pockets of very good practice in Wales, and they found a strong desire from service providers and Welsh Government to provide that support, but there were also gaps that were found and opportunities to strengthen provision had been missed. So, could I ask how the new strategy specifically responds to the needs of young people, and how it might improve access to specialist domestic abuse support for children right across Wales, providing that support when they need it and where they need it?

Thank you very much, Joyce Watson. Can I say how pleased I was to be able to speak at the launch of 'A Duty to Support' on Monday? I gave my commitment that I would be taking back the recommendations—I think that the First Minister did as well—to reflect on them. What's interesting, of course, is that your report actually drew attention to the evidence that this is not just a Welsh Government issue; I mean, it is for every local authority. You draw attention to the fact that some local authorities have got children and young people scrutiny committees and some haven't, and how important children and young people scrutiny committees are.

And the Deputy Minister for Social Services has an interest in this and, indeed, the Minister for Finance and Local Government, because I know that, in terms of our local authorities, this is very much in terms of all aspects of the strategy, 'Everybody's Business'. It's the whole of Welsh Government,  from education to health and social services. And we sat together yesterday—and what a good idea to invite three Ministers to give evidence yesterday. So, I can assure you that we will be taking all of the recommendations on board—the good practice and, I thought, some encouraging comments on how sustainable commissioning is moving forward on a regional basis, which can also help to actually ensure that we have more consistency across Wales. We have statutory guidance on commissioning as a result of the legislation, but we also have that work stream on children and young people for the strategy group, and they will be looking at your report.

Thank you.

Jenny Rathbone.

Thank you very much for calling me. We heard lots of excellent good practice amongst public bodies—a range of them—in really taking seriously the ways in which they needed to refer people who were survivors of violence as migrants with no recourse to public funds. We'll discuss that another day.

But it was also useful to hear witnesses from specialist third sector organisations demanding action to tackle this misogyny and toxic masculinity of the perpetrators. That's something that we didn't cover in this inquiry. So, it's very good to see prevention writ large in your statement and in your revised strategy. I wondered if you could say a little bit more about that, because, clearly, we need to go to the places where men and women are—and particularly men—so, this is something, for example, our churches, our mosques, temples and synagogues can help with as well as all our sports clubs, of which there are very many in Wales, and other institutions where, obviously, at work, employers have a really important role to play. So, I just wondered if you could fill out a little bit more how the Government plans to take forward the prevention agenda, which is so much more cost-effective than dealing with the problem afterwards.

Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. I think this partly moves on, in addition to what I've already said, to our campaigns and communications. So, this is about how we challenge societal attitudes to prevent violence against women, men and children happening in the first place. So, it's the Live Fear Free campaign—that's continuing to raise awareness of stalking, harassment, abuse and violence against women in all aspects of life. This has got to pervade every aspect of life. Also, I didn't actually respond to the question about stalking. The fact that women are moving into the public realm—. I'll always remember last year or when we were discussing the release from lockdowns, and it came to us that women weren't safe; they didn't feel safe running on their own, and it's so important that they should take that exercise. Women should be safe while out running in public places, to walk through a public space, they should be safe at night. And stalking is an abhorrent crime. I had a meeting with the police and crime commissioners about the take-up of stalking in terms of how we raise more awareness of this. And, in fact, the Live Fear Free campaign is really extending to look at all the public realm in terms of tackling these issues. So, it is going to impact on every aspect of life, because we're extending from the domestic to the public realm. And, of course, that will include not just the public place, the street, transport, but also the workplace, working very closely with our trade unions, who've taken a leading role in terms of tackling this in the workplace.

Finally, Buffy Williams.

Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you, Minister, for today's statement. All forms of violence against women are unacceptable, and it's absolutely vital that we have our six key aims to tackle violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. I was horrified to see the number of domestic abuse and sexual violence instances in Rhondda compared to the rest of the country. This is a real problem in my constituency and one that needs to be urgently addressed. We have initiatives like Drive running from some of our third sector groups and charities, but more needs to be done to raise awareness, to improve the support and to prevent violence against women. We will be holding a round-table discussion in Rhondda with these aims in mind. Will the Minister please take part during the round-table discussion and explore how the Welsh Government can support us to achieve our aims?

Well, thank you very much to Buffy Williams, and it would be great if every Senedd Member made the same sort of request to me, because I think we do need that county-by-county, community-by-community round-table to address these issues. And thank you also for drawing attention to Drive, which has been effective—really effective. Also, we haven't discussed key parts that we have already been delivering in terms of the national training plan, reaching out to our professionals—nearly half a million people have actually engaged in our e-learning. But I will certainly look forward to joining your round-table. This is crucial. We are talking about prevention. The police have set up an advanced prevention unit, and tackling domestic abuse and sexual violence is at the forefront now of their objectives. And can I just finally say, let's remember that, in our programme for government, there's a commitment to expand the 'Don't be a Bystander' training and awareness campaign? That's the call-out today, isn't it? Don't be a bystander. We have got to stand together on this.

I thank the Minister.