Protecting Women and Girls
In the year to March 2025 alone, 739,000 women were the victim of a sexual assault. One in five women have been a victim of stalking. But most cases fail to result in a prosecution and justice. Behind every statistic is a real person, who has had their life upended in a harrowing and awful way.
We have always known that this is a serious issue - so why has so little been done about it so far? I've been using my platform to speak out about women failed by the system, who deserve so much more than a case number.
Sometimes, that has meant challenging our own institutions that have failed to root out misogyny and violence - The Met police included. It is unacceptable for the body that is supposed to protect women to fail to hold itself to the highest standards.
With the government working now to take serious steps to end violence against women and girls, I've been scrutinising the process, working with the government to improve measures, and lobbying for more protection for stalking victims in particular.
Since being elected, I've heard harrowing accounts from victims of stalking, about the traumatic experiences they've been subjected to.
What concerns me is that it is clear in so many of these cases that victims are being let down by the Metropolitan Police - who, either due to under-resourcing or lack of training - are not bringing perpetrators to justice.
Time and time again I've pushed the Government in the house to make sure that proper support is given to victims, and that the Metropolitan Police has the resources and guidance it needs to properly investigate stalking cases.
I'm encouraged that the Government seem to be listening to our campaign and have announced new measures, but I'll keep pushing them to go further and reform our stalking laws to make it easier for victims to get justice.
I met with the Victims Commissioner for London where I discussed my campaign to strengthen the law on stalking - ensuring victims can get justice.
Figures released to me by the Metropolitan Police show that 1 in 3 stalking cases in London ended with the victim withdrawing before a conviction.
These astounding figures should trouble us all.
I fear that too many stalking victims are being let down because they are unable to find justice within the current legal framework, whereby they are forced to provide an unreasonable amount of evidence.
This must change. That’s why I’m campaigning to change the law to make it easier for stalking victims to pursue a conviction, by creating a new standalone, clear offence of stalking.
This is something that has already been suggested by a Suzy Lamplugh Trust report, and together with better training for police officers in how to help stalking victims and investigate cases, it can help us tackle this serious problem.
It's encouraging that the government has taken a huge step forward by unveiling its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
I've been scrutinising the development of this strategy for months, and have spoken in Westminster Hall several times to push the government to take the right steps to make this new mission a meaningful and successful one.
This includes highlighting revelations about the scale of the problem with misogyny within the Met police - and calling on all of us to support the Commissioner as he goes about trying to root out the culture once and for all, so that we can ensure the uniform of the Met can remain a symbol of safety, integrity and pride.
