A north-east MP has declared that total elimination should be the lowest bar in the fight to stamp out violence against women.
The SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford, who represents Banff and Buchan, is shining a spotlight on the issue through her private member’s bill, which she launched yesterday.
It provides a vehicle for ratifying the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe agreement on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
The legislation, which will be debated in the Commons next week, has cross-party support and she hopes the UK Government will back it.
Unveiling the bill in Westminster, she said: “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.
“Elimination is an ambitious word – but we should never set the bar any lower.”
She described the convention, which was signed in 2012, as a powerful tool for holding governments accountable for their progress.
The UK had played a prominent role in developing it, but the process had stalled, she said.
She added: “The government has consistently said that it wants to ratify, it intends to ratify; but we’ve reached a hiatus.
“It has now been languishing on the back burner for over four and a half years. My bill is an attempt to shift the log-jam and give the government the impetus it needs to take the final steps needed to bring the UK into compliance.
“Actions speak louder than words. The UK Government needs to back up its verbal commitments with legislative action.”
One in three women will experience domestic abuse or sexual violence in their lifetime, Ms Whiteford said.
Her bill sets out a timetable for ratification and new reporting requirements on the government which would mean the home secretary having to come to parliament annually to update MPs on compliance.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We remain committed to ratifying the Istanbul Convention as part of our strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.
“In most respects measures already in place to protect women and girls from violence comply with, or go further, than the convention requires.”
