The judiciary prioritises cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, which includes those involving domestic abuse. Most domestic abuse cases are heard in magistrates courts, where cases tend to be heard more quickly. As I have already stated, the Government have taken action to address the outstanding caseload in the Crown court, funding record levels of sitting days in the upcoming financial year.
The backlog in the court system harms efforts to instil confidence in women persisting with domestic violence charges against their abusers. Violence against women and girls is a national scandal, and femicide is ongoing, with countless women losing their lives to male violence. Sadly, my region of Merseyside is now the second highest region in the country for femicide. Does the Department agree that any moves to fast-track cases via the criminal or civil courts to remove abusers from our streets must involve appropriately severe sentences, irrespective of the prison places crisis?
I thank my hon. Friend for that important and timely question. We take all forms of homicide extremely seriously, and our strategy, which will be published later this week, looking at tackling violence against women and girls will cover all forms of violence and abuse that disproportionately impact women, including femicide. We will of course prioritise tackling violence against women and girls, which is why we have funded record numbers of Crown court sitting days. We are extending the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner and strengthening the victims code. We have protected funding for victims services looking at domestic abuse, rape and sexual offences to ensure that victims are listened to and are put at the heart of the criminal justice system.
For last week’s International Women’s Day, the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips) read out the names of the 96 women who were killed in the last year. I am always conscious of the loss of life, as I know the Minister is. If domestic violence today is the violence against women and murder tomorrow, what can be done to support women and their children?
We are doing everything we can to support women and their children. We have declared this a national emergency, and we have that ambition of targeting and halving violence against women and girls over the course of a decade. My personal ambition is that the names read out at this Dispatch Box next year are far fewer than the ones read out this year.