Women’s plight is an emergency

THE first duty of government is to ensure the security of the nation’s citizens – this is why it is disgrace that the current Tory regime is letting half of them down.

Britain is not safe for women and it has not been for decades.

They are frightened of walking home after dark, wary of travelling alone on public transport and even fearful in their own homes.

To make matters worse, they lack confidence in the police to believe them if they report a rapist.

And conviction rates are so low there is little guarantee of justice when they do put themselves through the trauma of a trial.

The Tories have had 14 years to make women and girls feel safe and they have failed abysmally.

Labour now says violence against women must be treated as an emergency, not as an inevitability. Yvette Cooper today unveils a plan to do just that which includes training for every police officer in tackling the violence women too often face.

The Shadow Home Secretary wants earlywarning specialists in emergency control rooms to spot domestic abuse as 999 calls come in and to use counter-terror tactics to hunt down dangerous repeat offenders.

Fast-track rape courts will speed up justice and sexual assault survivors will get free legal advice to support them through the process.

Of all the campaign promises to be made in the lead-up to this year’s general election, this should take priority. It should be an issue above politics – which means every party committing to keeping women and girls safe.