A Shadow Minister has recalled feeling “trapped” in an abusive relationship that left her “living in a permanent state of anxiety”.
In a discussion on the challenges women face within the justice system Labour MP Anna McMorrin revealed her own personal difficulties trying to flee an abusive relationship.
She told MPs she navigated “lying, cheating, gaslighting, controlling behaviour” and was “unable to function at times, not knowing what was real and what wasn’t.”
She said in the House of Commons: “It took all my strength to leave the relationship I was in.
“I left one evening last year with just a single bag under my arm.
“Many won’t understand what it takes to leave that kind of relationship or why you stay so long.
“But being able to talk about it now without fear, without shame, is as important as it is liberating.”
The Shadow Justice Minister highlighted the fact that women of all characters can still be subject to domestic abuse.
“I consider myself a strong, independent women with a thick skin having to navigate the brutal reality of being a woman in politics. Yet it still happened to me.”
The Labour MP highlighted the importance of breaking down stigmas surrounding abuse.
She recalled the case of one survivor who was raped, and then confronted in court with the "barbaric scare tactic" of having to open an evidence file to a photo of the man who violently abused her.
“The courts are complicit in the abuse that women face - this needs to change now”, she said.
In another case, she said, "Helen lost everything - her home, her friends, her career - her father died and her mother was sectioned, both broken by watching their daughter go through such an ordeal."
The man involved was found not guilty.
Her speech comes as 13 members of the Shadow Cabinet wrote to their Government counterparts urging them to launch a cross-departmental strategy to tackle the epidemic of VAWG.
In a letter seen by The Mirror, Labour MPs said on International Women’s Day: “We are writing to you as Shadow Secretaries of State to ask you, our opposite numbers, to recognise that this is an issue that cuts across departments and can no longer be siloed.
“It must and can only be addressed by Government as a whole.
“The scale of our action must meet the scale of this crisis. We believe we all have a responsibility to ensure that ours is the last generation plagued by violence against women, and we know that there is widespread support, both from the public and from organisations across the sector, to make this commitment a reality.”
Earlier today, senior Tory MP Caroline Nokes told the BBC Boris Johnson must “step up and show that he does take women's safety seriously” by supporting new legislation to criminalise public sexual harassment.
A YouGov survey found that 66% of women across the UK do not feel safe walking alone at night, at least some of the time.
It came after MPs said a culture of "toxic" misogyny in the Met Police uncovered in the wake of Sarah Everard's death must lead to better vetting.
As part of International Women's Day on Tuesday, MPs from across the political spectrum took part in a Westminster Hall debate on the reports of misogyny and sexual harassment in the country's largest force.
It is just over a year since Ms Everard's rape and murder at the hands of serving police officer Wayne Couzens.
A recent report into Charing Cross police station uncovered a catalogue of deeply disturbing racist, homophobic and misogynistic messages exchanged between officers, the handling of which led to outgoing Met Police chief Cressida Dick being forced to resign.
And in December, further questions were asked about the force when two Met officers were jailed after taking photos of murdered sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry and sharing them on WhatsApp.
MPs called on the Government to do more to restore public trust.
Opening the debate, Lib Dem Sarah Olney said the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report into Charing Cross police station, revealed “a number of factors that contributed to the toxic culture they identified”.
The MP for Richmond Park said: “These included that officers were often isolated, lacked supervision and that there was widespread acting up, with officers assuming unofficial promotions.
“This meant that inappropriate behaviours or attitudes were not properly challenged at the right time and so became normalised.
“This strongly suggests that the lack of appropriately experienced or trained police officers has been a contributory factor in allowing negative behaviours to flourish unchecked, which leads back to the dramatic cuts in policing in the capital that we’ve seen over the last decade.”
Shadow Home Office minister Sarah Jones urged ministers to look at how “we vet police officers” as she argued the process “is not good enough” to actually assess who a person is.
She said: “The vetting is not good enough on actually who you are, what you’ve said on social media over the last five years and what you think and whether you should be with vulnerable people. So our vetting needs to be looked at.”
On training, the shadow Home Office minister said it needs to be “overhauled”, adding: “Officers need ongoing training throughout their careers, including on anti-racism and including on tackling violence against women and girls.”
Conservative former equalities minister Maria Miller stressed the importance of “trying to deal with some of the root causes of the problem”, arguing “we have got to get sex and relationship education ingrained into our schools”.
Home Office minister Rachel Maclean recognised policing and the Metropolitan Police “must do better” but said the Government is “absolutely committed to raising the bar”.
Saying the findings of the IOPC report were “shocking”, adding: “Policing and the Met must do better. And we are absolutely committed to raising the bar.”
She went on: “As the public would expect, when officers are found to have committed gross misconduct and dismissed they cannot re-join policing.
“And we’re also ensuring that initial police recruitment vetting practices carried out in each force are rigorous and the assessment process addresses the candidate’s suitability for the role of police officer, including testing against core behaviours and values and when officers move force, they are then re-vetted.”
