One woman in Wales will be killed by a partner or relative this month A draft plan to tackle domestic abuse is "inadequate" and does not do enough to protect victims, a women's campaigning group has warned. The assembly government is to expected publish its final strategy - to protect both male and female victims - shortly. The Wales Violence Against Women (VAW) Action Group say the strategy has no measurable targets or outcomes and will leave Wales behind other UK countries. The social justice minister said the strategy was a priority for him. To highlight the urgency of a new strategy, the action group said 160 women would be turned away from refuges in February alone, because they are virtually at capacity. VIOLENCE IN ONE MONTH One woman will die at the hands of a family member/partner 16 women will be raped and the case taken to court 35 sexual assaults will be taken to court 356 domestic abuse cases will be prosecuted 150 women and 132 children will go to a refuge 160 women will be turned away from full refuges Five women will be victims of trafficking Three women will report forced marriage

Violence against women in Wales in a month. Source: Wales Violence Against Women Action Group More than 350 cases of domestic abuse would be prosecuted, the group added. The Wales VAG has been working with the assembly government on the strategy but says the shape and content of the final strategy remains unclear. The group wants the government to look at the strategies published in Scotland and England VAW chair Naomi Brightmore said: "The current draft strategy for Wales is not even specifically designed to tackle violence against women, includes no measurable targets or outcomes and is not a government-wide response." "In England, teachers in all schools will be better trained in order to help girls facing abuse and gender equality will be part of the curriculum. "The public sector will receive guidance about tackling violence against women in the workplace, and local authorities will be given a stronger remit and better tools in order to commission better services for victims. "The effort won't be focused mainly on domestic abuse - but on all forms of violence, including sexual assault, stalking and harassment, forced marriage and female genital mutilation." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Natalie suffered abuse for nine years before she managed to escape from a violent relationship. She lived in an isolated house in the countryside with her partner and said the abuse began as soon as he walked through the door. "He would start just hitting me, just kicking me and sometimes he'd say I would have to sleep in the garage," she told BBC Radio Wales. "I would be locked in the garage for the night. The next morning, if he was still in a mood, he would take my car keys, my mobile phone and the phones in the house and I was completely cut off from the world." The social justice minister, Carl Sargeant AM, said he was determined to do more to prevent violence against women and change attitudes following his recent appointment. He said £300,000 for publicity campaigns and £250,000 for an IT system at Welsh refuges had been allocated on top of an extra £1m to implement the new strategy. "[It] will focus on the wider violence against women agenda and include actions to address issues such as prostitution, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour based crime," he added. "The message from this government is clear - violence against women is not acceptable and we will do everything to tackle it."



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