Sexual Offences: Surrey Heath
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce sexual assault incidents in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
Tackling rape and sexual offences is a key part of our mission to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG). To meet this ambition, we will deliver a cross-government, transformative approach, underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy, which we are aiming to publish this summer.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for them to tackle sexual crimes, bring perpetrators to justice and manage sex offenders.
In addition, we are investing £13.1m for a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to transform the police response across England and Wales and help deliver our commitment for strengthened specialist VAWG training, ensuring consistent protection for victims and that perpetrators are relentlessly pursued.
We have also made several commitments to transform the criminal justice response to sexual offences. This includes rolling out, later this year, free, independent legal advisers for victims of adult rape to help uphold their legal rights, and fast-tracking rape cases.
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