SNP MP Eilidh Whiteford launches private member’s bill to tackle violence against women

SNP MP for Banff and Buchan Dr Eilidh Whiteford - Image credit: UK Parliament

SNP MP for Banff and Buchan Eilidh Whiteford has published a private member’s bill calling on the UK Government to ratify the Istanbul Convention on violence against women.

The Istanbul Convention, or Council of Europe Convention on Combating and Preventing Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, puts obligations on the state to prevent violence against women, protect women and prosecute the perpetrators.

This includes all forms of abuse such as stalking, harassment, sexual assault and rape, physical and psychological abuse by a partner, forced marriage, forced abortion or sterilisation and female genital mutilation.

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The UK signed the treaty in 2012, but has yet to ratify it to make it part of UK law.

SNP social justice spokesperson at Westminster Whiteford said: “It is no longer a valid excuse to say there is not enough parliamentary time to take forward the necessary changes to domestic legislation.”

She added: “I have, however, listened to the Government, and the bill will enable them to set out a clear timetable to bring forward the required legislation, and ratify the Istanbul Convention as a national priority.

“If the UK Government is as committed to ratifying the convention as they say, they should be able to support this bill.”

Whiteford has written to all MPs explaining the purpose of the bill and asking for their backing.

MPs from the three other parties, including Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland Alistair Carmichael and former Conservative culture secretary Maria Miller, have given their support.

Speaking at the launch of the bill this morning, Whiteford said: “Mention the Istanbul Convention and you will quite often be met with blank stares.

“The shorthand is fairly opaque; however, the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence – to give the treaty its full and proper title – is a ground-breaking international legal instrument.

“It is the most comprehensive and far reaching framework that exists to tackle violence against women in its many forms and manifestations, and critically, it provides the legal apparatus to hold Governments accountable for their progress, and is a powerful vehicle for improving policy, practices and services on an ongoing basis.”

Referring to the statistic that one in three women will experience domestic abuse or sexual violence at some point in her life, Whiteford said: “Some consider that a conservative estimate.”

She continued: “I believe very passionately that violence against women is neither natural nor inevitable.

“We can prevent it, we can challenge it, we can hold perpetrators to account. And in my view, we need to do all these things if we are to end this systematic abuse of women’s basic human rights.”

There will be a debate in the Commons today to mark the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Whiteford said: “Elimination is an ambitious word – but we should never set the bar any lower. It’s possible, and more until violence against women has been truly eradicated.”

The private member’s bill will be debated in parliament on Friday 16 December.