Domestic violence - a local issue

I was at a conference last week with David Cameron and Michael Gove, on 'How to Mend a Broken Society'... and 'Strengthening Families'.

The floor opened to questions after the first half of the session and Sandra Horley (CEO of Refuge) asked a question about domestic violence - "was it right for women (typically) to stay with a partner or husband if he was abusing her?". Michael answered very clearly, that it was healthy relationships that the Party were encouraging to stay together, not abusive ones.

This reminded me of a situation, when I was campaiging in Hounslow Heath a few months ago and some teenage boys, who were hanging around a street corner, asked me what I was doing. I stopped and spoke to them and asked them what they felt the most important local issues were. They looked at me, straight in the eyes and immediately said without hesitation - domestic violence.

Domestic violence kills two women per week in England and Wales. It is an issue that we must address and give those who are abused as much support as possible. Violence in a relationship is completely unacceptable. The difficulty is that many people do not report it as they are afraid of what might happen to them or their partner. It takes immense courage to walk away from that type of abusive relationship....but important to do so, especially when there are children involved.

Chiswick was the first location in Europe (and even perhaps the world) to have a women's refuge. I intend to speak loudly against domestic violence, not just because I hope to be the next MP for Chiswick, but because I believe it is a major issue in our communities and I believe it is wrong.