Alex Davies-Jones, the victims minister, spoke with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge last night.
They are discussing the government’s announcement of a new law to “crack down” on drink spiking to protect women and girls.
As Sophy points out, spiking is already illegal.
Ms Davies-Jones says many people don’t know it is illegal – and also that the legislation is very out of date.
The Offences Against the Person Act from 1861 is the legislation usually used to prosecute people – which is more than 150 years old.
‘We’ll drive numbers down’
Ms Davies-Jones says the changes will also help with how the police collect data on crimes.
Under the current laws, “you don’t know if you’ve been spiked with a drink, a needle, a vape, for example”.
She adds: “So by modernising the offence, by creating that awareness, by giving the police the tools to go after the accurate data so that we can paint a picture of where this is happening, how this is happening, and how many times this is happening.”
These steps are important to “drive numbers down”, the minister says.
‘Culture shift’
Sophy poses the point that women “don’t need new laws, they just want the existing laws enforced” – stating rape victims wait on average two and a half years to get to court and only three in 100 see someone charged.
Ms Davies-Jones says the changes being introduced by the government are “mission led”, and there has been a “culture shift” in government to tackle the issue.
This includes all departments working together, in portfolios like education, healthcare, transport, and others, to tackle violence against women and girls systemically.
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