Pledge to strengthen and fund support for survivors of violence and abuse welcomed by Liberal Democrats in Newcastle.

Ali Avaei, the Liberal Democrats candidate for Newcastle Central, has welcomed the announcement that in government Liberal Democrats will strengthen support for survivors of violence against women and girls and domestic abuse.

He said " This is an important issue that has been sidelined by the Tories for their Brexit obsession. A Liberal Democrats government will expand the number of refuges and rape crisis centres and ensure sustainable funding, working with local authorities, for specialist support services, having passed the policy in a motion at its Autumn Conference.

"I am proud that the Liberal Democrats led on this issue in the last Parliament: In April 2019 Wera Hobhouse, Jo Swinson and Layla Moran tabled an Early Day Motion, which received cross party support, calling on the Conservative government to ratify the Istanbul Convention and rape crisis services.

"The Liberal Democrats will also provide local authorities with the necessary funding to provide accommodation for survivors of abuse, making it a duty for councils to do so. These are vital measures to strengthen support available to survivors of violence and domestic abuse.

"For far too long support services for survivors of domestic abuse have been patchy and inadequate. Unfortunately, under the Tory government, this crisis has continued unchecked. The Tories promised a Domestic Abuse Bill two years ago. Their failure to bring this into law is an insult to survivors.

"A Liberal Democrats government will expand the number of refuges and rape crisis centres to ensure that every survivor can access support services. It is vital to invest in preventing and combating violence against women and girls, as well as doing all that we can to support survivors."

The motion passed at the Liberal Democrats Autumn conference 2019 is below:

F4: Continuing the fight for gender equality

Conference notes that:

In the UK in 2016, items marketed specifically at women were 37 per cent more expensive on average than those marketed at men.

Approximately 40 per cent of girls in the UK have used toilet roll because they couldn't afford sanitary products.

In Wales Liberal Democrat Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, this year announced a scheme to provide sanitary products to girls across primary and secondary schools and colleges.

Tampons and towels are currently taxed as a non-essential item, with the rate set at five per cent in the UK.
2019 figures show that the median pay gap this year was 11.9 per cent.

Survivors of sexual assault are being turned away from accessing vital support services; the Istanbul Convention says there should be at least 150 Rape Crisis Centres in England and Wales, but currently there are only 44; Campaigner Fern Champion's petition on the issue has over 150,000 signatures.

Overall just 32 per cent of MPs are women and there are significant variations between parties.

The impact of inequality, prejudice, and discrimination is multiplied for women who are disabled, BAME, LGBT+, or from other disadvantaged backgrounds or groups.

Jo Swinson fought to introduce gender pay gap reporting for large companies when she was a Minister in the Coalition Government; Liberal Democrats were the first party to lay a Parliamentary motion on the issue of period poverty and Layla Moran's 2019 motion has garnered cross-party support; Christine Jardine's Gender-based Pricing (Prohibition) Bill aimed to combat the price gap, but the Conservative Government did not give the Bill their backing; Wera Hobhouse's motion urging the government to bring the Istanbul Convention into UK law has broad cross-party support.

Conference believes that:

The gender price gap contributes to a 'double whammy' when partnered with the gender pay gap that women continue to face.

Menstrual hygiene should be considered a human right.

The government is neglecting people across this country by failing to guarantee the right to justice and support for survivors of sexual assault.

The UK needs more women in Parliament to successfully address the issues that face contemporary society, including those of inequality.

Conference reaffirms the Liberal Democrat commitment to:

Extending the Equality Act to all companies with over 250 employees or those who receive public funds, requiring them to monitor and publish data on diversity employment levels and pay gaps.

Requiring diversity in public appointments and government procurement, including at senior level.

Ensuring all women have access to affordable, good-quality sexual and reproductive health care and services, including by doing all we can to support the people of Northern Ireland to have access to abortion facilities at home.

Conference calls for:

The UK government, and those of all other EU member states, to ratify and bring into law the Istanbul Convention.

The government to roll out free sanitary products to schools, hospitals, hostels, shelters, libraries, leisure centres, GP surgeries, food banks, colleges and universities.

The government to work within the EU to remove the VAT on sanitary products across all Member States, including the UK.

The government introduce legislation to scrap the gender price gap on all products.

The government to require large companies to publicly publish their parental leave policies, including information regarding funding, to extend shared parental leave to self-employed fathers, ensure shared parental leave is a day one right, and give fathers an additional four weeks of use-it-or-lose-it paternity leave.

The Liberal Democrats, and all political parties, to implement Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, publishing their candidate diversity data; and for parental and carer leave entitlements for parliamentarians and councillors to be strengthened with provisions to be made to ensure constituents continue to be represented during these periods of leave.