§ 35. Mr. Ken Purchase (Wolverhampton, North-East)What support the Crown Prosecution Service gives to victims of domestic violence who are fearful of recrimination. [50381]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralTo protect victims of domestic violence who fear recrimination, and to ensure effective prosecution of domestic violence, the Crown Prosecution Service has reviewed its guidance on prosecuting domestic violence. Last November, new guidance was published that requires the CPS to work closely with the police and voluntary organisations to protect and support the victim.
§ Mr. PurchaseIs the Solicitor-General visited in her weekly surgeries, as I am, by many victims of domestic violence who say that they simply do not get the support to which they feel they are entitled, and that they are timid about making further complaints because the protection process has broken down? I am exceedingly pleased to learn that the CPS is taking the matter more seriously, but 464 more social policy input is required into the decisions taken in the course of that work to ensure that women, who are most often the victims of domestic violence, have their needs properly understood.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI absolutely agree with everything that my hon. Friend says. It is also important that women know that the courts take such offences seriously. To ensure that sentencing properly reflects the seriousness of domestic violence, I have referred to the Court of Appeal a case in which, in my view, the judge passed an unduly lenient sentence in a domestic violence case. That will be heard on 16 May, and will give the Court of Appeal the opportunity to consider sentences for domestic violence.