Prevention, education and safeguarding: culture change at every level will be crucial to how we tackle violence against women and girls.

In the final podcast of this season’s Committee Corridor, host Caroline Nokes MP hears from three women who have taken part in select committee inquiries which consider different aspects of violence against women and girls. 

The term “violence against women and girls” is used to describe a wide range of abuses, from harassment in work and public life to domestic abuse, sexual assault and the most serious offences.

Andrea Simon, the Director of End Violence Against Women Coalition; Dawn Dines, founder of Stamp out Spiking, and Carolyn Harris MP, a member of the Home Affairs and Women and Equalities Committees, explore the interventions which are required to confront behaviour which normalises violence against women and girls. The podcast includes content on sexual harassment and violence in schools, spiking, stealthing and discussion of the investigation and prosecution of rape. 

Ending violence against women and girls “is everyone’s business”, Andrea tells Caroline. “We know that ultimately, we live in a world that unless we address those underlying causes and excuses for violence against women, we won't be able to create the change that we need to see.”

Your host, for the final time in this series, is Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North. 

We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:  

Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email jo@samaritans.org

Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk)

Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales

Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk)

Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk)

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Around a quarter of the UK's adult population have signed a petition to Parliament. It's one of the ways that UK residents can alert members of Parliament to concerns that matter to them and make their voices heard.

Petitions to the UK Parliament e-petition site ask for a change to the law or to policy. Since launching eight years ago, more than 30,000 petitions have been created, attracting more than 110 million signatures – and 350 of them have been debated by MPs. 

Today, podcast host Catherine McKinnell MP, unwraps how the process works and ask how petitions can make a difference, through the experience of Andy Airey.

Andy is one third of ‘Three Dads Walking’ who petitioned Parliament to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum.

Andy's daughter Sophie took her own life in 2018, aged 29. He campaigns alongside Mike Palmer and Tim Owen, who lost their daughters, Beth and Emily, at the ages of 17 and 19.

They are joined by Nick Fletcher, the member of the Petitions Committee who opened the debate in the House of Commons. Nick is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Don Valley. 

A Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds, Cristina Leston-Bandeira works on how Parliaments engage the public, particularly through petitions. She sets out why petitions are important and how the UK compares to other countries and legislatures.

Your host, for the final time in this series, is Catherine McKinnell, the Chair of the Petitions Committee at the House of Commons and Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North.

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In May this year, voter ID was enforced for the first time in polling booths across England. Photo identification such as a driving licence or passport will be needed to vote in the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections, future recall petitions and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. From October, everyone will need photo ID to vote in UK General Elections.

In this podcast, Committee Corridor looks at voter ID - what is it? Why is it needed? And how will the experience of the local elections scale up in a ageneral election? 

Host Catherine McKinnell hears from Dr John Ault, Director of Democracy Volunteers, an organisation which observes elections and reports their findings to improve electoral practice in the UK and abroad. His team fielded over 150 observers at more than half of the council's holding elections and he highlights key findings from their work.  

Two select committees have tracked the progress of Voter ID closely. Their Chairs join the podcast to consider what can be learned from the recent elections and the challenges ahead.  Clive Betts MP chairs the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee while William Wragg MP chairs the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

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The Women's Ashes, the Ladies Tennis at Wimbledon, athletics in Manchester and London, World Cups for football in Australia and New Zealand — women's sport is going from strength to strength, and it's really exciting. But behind the scenes, other battles are being fought.

The Independent Commission for Equity and Cricket (ICEC) stark report, ‘Holding a Mirror up to Cricket’ delivered critical verdicts on sexism, racism, classism and elitism in the game. Podcast host Caroline Nokes MP sits down with the Chair of the ICEC, Cindy Butts to explore her report’s findings and hears why she remains ambitious for the future of cricket.

Attention then turns to what can be done to address the personal, practical, financial, and institutional challenges which women and girls face from grassroots to the very top of sport. Paralympian and cross-bench peer in the House of Lords, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, also Chair of Sport Wales, describes her experiences in sport and how a more radical approach is needed to keep sport in women’s lives.  While Dame Caroline Dinenage, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee sets out details of her Committee’s work in this area.

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There are falling levels of trust in news, growing numbers of people who avoid news stories, and a sharp decline in the number of those who take a strong interest in news coverage. Local newspapers and broadcast services are also disappearing due to cuts, centralisation, and mergers. How would we hold local government and public services to account for the decisions that affect our everyday lives? What does it mean for our understanding of institutions like the courts if we don't engage with coverage?

In this episode of our Committee Corridor podcast, host Catherine McKinnell MP (Chair of the House of Commons Petitions Committee) speaks with Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. They recently published a report surveying more than 93,000 online news consumers in 46 countries covering half the world's population.

We're also joined by the Chair of the Justice Select Committee, Sir Bob Neill MP. The Committee has called on the court system to embrace technology and welcome media and the public into court proceedings. They say that the decline of local papers makes the business of justice less visible to the public, and the digital media hasn't filled the gap.

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Welcome to a brand new season of Committee Corridor. In the first episode, co-host Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, speaks with Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, about the effects the Covid-19 pandemic had on education.

Children have been through an “unprecedented experience” of seeing schools closed and being restricted to their homes, de Souza says. They have “probably taken the biggest hit because childhood is very short.”

Nokes is also joined by fellow parliamentarians Robin Walker MP (Chair, Education Committee) and Dame Meg Hillier MP (Chair, Public Accounts Committee), whose committees have been working on related inquiries:

• Public Accounts Committee: Education Recovery in Schools
• Education Committee: Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils

Petitions Committees Chair Catherine McKinnell MP is co-hosting this series with Nokes.

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Welcome to Committee Corridor. This pilot podcast from the House of Commons select committees opens a door into the world of scrutiny through the lens of some of the UK’s most pressing concerns. 

Hosted by select committee chairs, each episode features an insight interview with a leading figure combined with updates from MPs on the work of their different select committees across Parliament. 

Issues of international importance such as the War in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, the UK’s energy security, human rights and justice have all been featured. 

Join our hosts Caroline Nokes (Chair, Women and Equalities Committee) and Catherine McKinnell (Chair, Petitions Committee) as they delve into matters of equality and democracy, in the latest batch of episodes leading up to summer 2023.

Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. Tell us what you think via our feedback form. 

Welcome to the final episode of this series of Committee Corridor. 

In this series of Committee Corridor we’ve been looking at human rights and justice.

Today, we’re updating you on the different issues we covered: modern slavery in the UK, the forced adoption of the children from unmarried mothers from the 1940s-1970s, plans to reform the Human Rights Act and the critical issues facing the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

To bring you up to date with work in select committees, we’ll also hear how employment rights are being put to the test. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has launched an inquiry into how far human rights are protected and respected at work.

Select Committee Chairs, Darren Jones MP and Caroline Nokes MP review how their committees have tackled some of the key issues facing workers today, making for some spirited exchanges in the committee rooms. They reflect on how select committees can get to the heart of critical issues.

Your host is Joanna Cherry KC MP.

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