Tonia Antoniazzi backs new Crime & Policing Bill to protect victims of abuse but says we must go further.

Tonia Antoniazzi has welcomed the introduction of new legislation to tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls but has said the law must go further to protect victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

The new Crime and Policing Bill contains a range of new measures to strengthen enforcement and better protect victims, such as making it easier for courts to issue Stalking Protection Orders, introducing a new offence for spiking and improving information sharing with victims.

Several reforms seek to tackle the rise of stalking specifically, which has increased by 10 % over the past year. In South Wales over 16,600 stalking and harassment offences were recorded by the police.

Not knowing the identity of an online stalker can be extremely unsettling with victims left in the dark as to whether the offender is known to them, which can put them in more danger.

New ‘Right to Know’ guidance will be brought into force, empowering the police to release the identity of an online stalker at the earliest opportunity. This will provide victims who are subject to this chilling crime with greater reassurance that they will be quickly told the identity of the individual threatening them online.

Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) can also ban stalkers from going within a certain distance of their victims or contacting them and can also compel them to attend a perpetrator programme to address the root causes of their behaviour.

Currently, however, these can only be applied when an offender is convicted and when a protection order was in place before they went on trial.

A BBC investigation earlier this year found that since SPOs were introduced back in 2020, just 1,439 had been issued by the 40 police forces. This is despite over 440,000 offences being recorded by the police over the same period.

Under Labour’s new measures, courts will be able to directly apply protection orders on those who have been acquitted if there is enough evidence to suggest that they are still a risk to the victim.

Tonia Antoniazzi MP for Gower said “This Labour Government has made the unprecedented commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade and I welcome that we are expanding support for victims of stalking and spiking in Gower and across South Wales.

“Victims show tremendous courage to come forward and seek help and our new orders will make that as straightforward as possible.

“For too long governments have treated violence against women and girls as an inevitability instead of the emergency that it is. Not anymore.

The measures in this Bill are evidence of the beginning of the Government's work to make good on their violence against women and girls ambition."

As Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Tonia Antoniazzi MP views this Bill as an opportunity to strengthen the Government's response to the sex trade and its harms. 

“Commercial sexual exploitation is a key driver of violence against women and girls, and this Bill presents a vital opportunity to take concrete action against pimps and punters and strengthen protections for victims of the sex trade.

“That’s why I will be tabling amendments to tackle commercial sexual exploitation. 
 
“By tackling this issue head-on, we can make real progress in halving violence against women and girls in a decade."

On 18th March, The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced a series of reforms to the welfare system.

I understand that many of my constituents will be worried about what this means for them and their disability benefits, especially in light of the rumours surrounding the announcement. Please be assured that there are no immediate changes and a 12 week consultation is now open for you to give your thoughts. 

The government have released a series of FAQs which may help you to understand what the changes mean in the short term. Please read on: