North Swindon MP, Justin Tomlinson, has praised the work of Swindon’s Women’s Refuge and the town’s Victim Support team, during a speech in Parliament highlighting the problem of domestic violence and the work being done to end it.
Whilst nationally the level of crime is falling, the impact of domestic violence remains a major issue. In Swindon there were 2459 cases reported to Wiltshire Police between April 2012 and March in 2013, yet it is estimated only 20% of cases were actually reported. Victims are simply afraid to seek help. Sadly in society, domestic abuse is all too often "out of sight, out of mind" and while this continues the issue will never truly be tackled.
Justin has visited both Swindon Women’s Refuge to meet with the fantastic Olwen Kelly and her team as well as the town’s Victim Support team, led excellently by Layla Allen. Both visits provided an eye-opening opportunity to see the real-life impact domestic violence has and, through conversations with a number of those being supported by the two organisations, Justin gained a better understanding of the support on offer across Swindon.
During the speech, Justin highlighted the vital work done by Olwen’s team at the Women’s Refuge, and Layla’s team at Victim Support, as well the important work done nationally by the charity Women’s Aid, for whom Justin launched the ‘Football United Against Domestic Violence’ campaign alongside Sky Sports’ presenter, Charlie Webster; Home Office Minister, Norman Baker MP and Women’s Aid Chief Executive, Polly Neate.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Domestic violence is an abhorrent crime that sadly all too often goes unnoticed, as people wrongly apply an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to the abuse. In Swindon, we are incredibly fortunate to have excellent support for victims of domestic abuse, be it through the town’s Women’s Refuge, or through the Victim Support team based at the Combined Court. I have seen first-hand the vital work Olwen & Layla’s teams do to support those who have suffered abuse in Swindon and I will continue to do all I can to support their work!”
To watch Justin's speech from the Westminster Hall debate, click here (from 14:55:24)
Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con): It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr McCrea. I was not intending to speak, but I was very impressed by the thoughtful, sensible and incredibly important contribution of the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson).
I have had the pleasure of working with Women’s Aid on domestic violence. The point that domestic violence is out of sight and therefore out of mind was what struck me so strongly. In Swindon, between April 2012 and March 2013, there were 2,459 confirmed cases of domestic violence, but that is believed to be only 20% of the total, so the figures are just scratching the surface.
I visited Swindon’s women’s refuge with my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General. Olwen Kelly and her team do a fantastic job. It is only on meeting and talking to victims that we can even start truly to understand the challenges and difficulties they face—the living nightmare that they, their families and their loved ones will go through.
It is always a challenge to secure sufficient funding for refuges, a point that the hon. Member for Upper Bann rightly highlighted. One of the biggest challenges is that, by their nature, refuges cannot showcase their fantastic work because they have to be hidden away in local communities. If all people could see that work, there would be a groundswell of support. I also pay tribute to Layla Allen and her team at the victim support unit at our local courts. They provide support and assistance for those who are brave enough to go through the legal challenges to bring those responsible to task.
Having met representatives of Women’s Aid, I said I wanted to play a small part and see how I could help to highlight domestic violence and deal with the fact that it is out of sight and out of mind. I was proud to help launch the “Football United Against Domestic Violence” campaign in Parliament. The Minister kindly came along and showed complete support for that initiative. At the launch were Polly Neate, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, and its ambassadors, Charlie Webster—she carried out her own fundraising, and reached her £100,000 target, by running 250 miles between the grounds of 40 football clubs—and Jahmene Douglas. Women’s Aid is using the medium of football to highlight domestic violence to a predominantly male audience. It managed—those who understand sport will know how incredibly difficult this is—to unite the Premier League, BT Sport and the Football Association. We had a truly united front to highlight this important issue, and there was fantastic cross-party support.
Collectively, we must do all we can to champion the work done—it is predominantly done by volunteers in our community—to highlight domestic violence. I simply wanted to make a short contribution to support this important debate.
