Equality and human rights

The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.

Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.

Statements, debates and legislation in Plenary on this brief, newest first. Oral question sessions are counted in the contributions below.

1. 13 November 2024Debate

   Violence against women, domestic abuse, and sexual violence—The scourge of Wales today

   Short Debate

   Opened by Y Llywydd / The Llywydd13 contributions

No votes in the Sixth Senedd have been tagged with this.

Votes are tagged from their own titles and the agenda item they were held under.

Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 3 since the 2026 election; the latest:

1. 28 September 2026

   Co-Chairs VAWDASV National Partnership Board

   Meeting, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality

2. 15 July 2026

   VAWDASV National Partnership Board

   Meeting, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality

3. 29 June 2026

   PCC Emma Wools - VAWDASV National Partnership Board Pre-meeting

   Meeting, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality

Source: Welsh Government, ministerial meetings and engagements. The register is published three months or more after the meetings it lists.

• 42% of Welsh adults said immigration and asylum seekers would be very important to their vote.

Ipsos asked 747 Welsh adults aged 16+ between 2 April 2026 and 8 April 2026, before the 2026 Senedd election. People could choose as many issues as they liked. More on public opinion.

No written questions on this brief in the Sixth Senedd yet.

No petitions on this brief opened in the Sixth Senedd.

No committee sessions on this brief in the Sixth Senedd yet.

154 contributions in the Sixth Senedd, newest first.

1. Jane HuttLabour

   5 November 2024, Plenary

   Business Statement and Announcement

   …the sexual harassment at work work stream that we've got as part of the partnership board on tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. They've been holding conferences with employers about tackling sexual violence and sexual harassment of employees as part of our…

   Tagged for: “violence against women”, “domestic abuse”, “sexual violence”Official Record

2. Carolyn ThomasLabour

   23 October 2024, Plenary

   Debate on the Petitions Committee Report, 'A cashless society? P-06-1335: Welsh Government should take steps to ensure vulnerable adults without bank cards can pay with cash'

   …leave people behind. Decisions shouldn’t just be based on commercialism, and Heledd also mentioned coercive control for people who just use online banking rather than cash. And Mike spoke about how cash is king, and the importance of it for budgeting as well, especially, like I said, in deprived…

   Tagged for: “coercive control”Official Record

3. Heledd FychanPlaid

   23 October 2024, Plenary

   Debate on the Petitions Committee Report, 'A cashless society? P-06-1335: Welsh Government should take steps to ensure vulnerable adults without bank cards can pay with cash'

   …that's much easier to do with money rather than online. So, I do feel that that's another element. Also coercive control. Many people, we hear, their spending is monitored, and, if it's online, that can be extremely difficult. So, there are many, many people who would benefit from this, as well as…

   Tagged for: “coercive control”Official Record

4. Jane HuttLabour

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   Well, thank you for that question. I’ve already met with Alex Davies-Jones, MP, who’s the Minister for victims and tackling domestic violence and violence against women. She’s in the Home Office, and, of course, we also have Jess Phillips in the Ministry of Justice. And, as social justice Cabinet…

   Tagged for: “domestic violence”, “violence against women”Official Record

5. Joel JamesConservative

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   …for victims services, meaning that funding will be taken from one area that supports survivors of violence against women and girls and placed into another, and offering no overall improvement to the support survivors receive. Survivors of domestic and sexual abuse face countless challenges at all…

   Tagged for: “violence against women”, “domestic abuse”Official Record

6. Jane HuttLabour

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   …recently, last week, with the Minister Alex Davies-Jones, who's responsible for not only victims, but violence against women and domestic abuse. So, I was very reassured, in terms of the early release scheme, that Alex Davies-Jones met with third sector providers in Wales. Before the September first…

   Tagged for: “violence against women”, “domestic abuse”Official Record

7. Joel JamesConservative

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   …of survivors. Early release of prisoners could have a devastating consequence for survivors of violence against women and girls. I think it's clear for all to see that this policy risks the safety and well-being of survivors and increases the fear amongst them that their former abusers will be back…

   Tagged for: “violence against women”Official Record

8. Jane HuttLabour

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   …that question. I was only reflecting last night that the amount and the extent and the prevalence of domestic violence is just utterly terrible—it's shocking. And, of course, it is a societal problem, which requires societal response. And it is, as you say, about raising awareness, challenging…

   Tagged for: “domestic violence”, “violence against women”, “domestic abuse”, “sexual violence”Official Record

9. Joel JamesConservative

   16 October 2024, Plenary

   Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

   Thank you, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, data shows that, in England and Wales, there are almost 3,000 domestic abuse and sexual violence crimes recorded against women and girls daily, making up nearly 20 per cent of all crimes recorded. Worryingly, violence against women and girls has risen by 37 per…

   Tagged for: “domestic abuse”, “sexual violence”, “violence against women”, “domestic violence”Official Record

10. Jenny RathboneLabour

    9 October 2024, Plenary

    Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report, 'Sound the Alarm: The Governance of Fire and Rescue Services'

    …and Rescue Service by Fenella Morris KC was a difficult read for all of us—its revelations of bullying, misogyny, racism and nepotism that poisoned the organisation and were allowed to spread unchecked. This was completely at odds with social partnership, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales)…

    Tagged for: “misogyny”Official Record

11. Sarah MurphyLabour

    9 October 2024, Plenary

    Topical Questions

    …across the public sector in Wales, with, again, the Home Office, police and crime commissioners and the domestic abuse commissioner. The board provides a critical leadership function overseeing the safeguarding review process, addressing escalated issues and harnessing cross-sector collaboration and…

    Tagged for: “domestic abuse”Official Record

12. Martyn Jones

    7 October 2024, Equality and Social Justice Committee

    Disability and employment: evidence session 4

    …and Welsh Government's own commitment to an anti-racism agenda and the work it's done for many years on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence—these are acknowledged equality areas, but I think we don't see the same focus or drive in the space of disability.

    Tagged for: “violence against women”, “domestic abuse”, “sexual violence”Official Record

13. Joyce WatsonLabour

    24 September 2024, Plenary

    Motion under Standing Order 26.79 to withdraw the Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill

    …policies were talked about, because, if you track any debate before that, you didn't talk about ending violence against women and girls, you didn't ever hear anybody mention work-life balance, you didn't hear anybody standing up in the Chamber talking about childcare. So, it really matters that…

    Tagged for: “violence against women”Official Record

14. Taryn Stephens

    19 September 2024, Children, Young People, and Education Committee

    Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session

    …know that the 'Ask and Act' training has been rolled out across the NHS, to support identification of domestic abuse, sexual violence and gender-based violence. Within health, there's recently been a strengthening safeguarding review that's been undertaken, and I know that the Cabinet Secretary and…

    Tagged for: “domestic abuse”, “sexual violence”Official Record

15. Jane HuttLabour

    18 September 2024, Plenary

    Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip

    …important people in public life, as Mike Hedges has said, also reveal that they have been survivors of coercive control. But I think it’s important that we—just in terms of acknowledging your recognition of this importance—look at how we are acting, not just in terms of this overall campaign, Live…

    Tagged for: “coercive control”, “VAWDASV”Official Record

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