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| Earlier this week, the National Assembly debated the high-minded issue of human rights in Wales. (Pic : Amnesty International) |
Human rights is an area that's strictly non-devolved, but the Welsh Government and Assembly have a duty to monitor it in relation to devolved areas (like access to health services or discrimination against minorities). There are also Cross-Party Groups on Human Rights and People Trafficking.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly debated the 2014 report (pdf) from the Equalities & Human Rights Commission in Wales (EHRC).
The report's broad findings were that :
- Public sector equality duties are working well in Wales and have been "a catalyst for change".
- Progress has been made on tackling domestic violence, religion in the workplace and mental health in the workplace - though more can be done.
- More work has been carried out on the links between inequality and poverty.
- The EHRC has provided evidence to the Welsh Government, in particular on the equalities impact of the budget, hate crime and women in public life.
- The EHRC has also proposed strengthening its relationship with the Welsh Government which could lead to a permanent presence in Wales. They also submitted evidence to the Silk Commission, which proposed the National Assembly have further powers over human rights duties in relation to devolved areas and full legislative control over public sector equalities duties.
It's very rarely that the National Assembly debates something that could/should be considered the remit of an independent nation state, so it's worth covering for that alone.
Human Rights in the Assembly
Communities & Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham) praised the work of the EHRC in Wales, which she says has proven to be "effective and successful" and the Welsh Government have a "positive and productive relationship" with the organisation. She says the EHRC's equalities network is "highly regarded by public sector equalities and human rights practitioners", and the government and Assembly can't overlook the links between inequalities and poverty.
Lesley said the Welsh Government support calls for the further devolution of equalities powers, and possibly beyond those recommended as part of the Silk Commission.
Mohammad Ashgar AM (Con, South Wales East), wanted to address one specific area – modern slavery. He highlighted recent legal cases of slave workers on Welsh farms, describing it as "the tip of the iceberg" and hoping the Assembly will support the Modern Slavery Bill. He also said forced marriages are often "undetected and unreported" in Wales.
Mohammad also raised the issue of female genital mutilation (aka. FGM – Life, Ethics & Independence III : Circumcision), and 65,000 girls and women in the UK are at risk of having the "procedure". He said it was an "appalling figure" and pleaded for something to be done on this during the Assembly term.
Lindsay Whittle AM (Plaid, South Wales East) said those who support human rights are "in a position of having to constantly defend that very concept", especially since the Conservative threat to withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). He defended the ECHR as providing security against miscarriages of justice, saying we now take many of the rights guaranteed under the convention for granted.
He also criticised the previous Labour UK Government's record on immigrants, where children were often interred alongside adults in secure units. Lindsay defended the ECHR's value, as it was there to "protect the vulnerable from the abuses of the state". He said he was proud that Wales was debating how to promote human rights and equality instead of whether governments should promote those things.
Peter Black AM (Lib Dem, South Wales West) wanted to emphasise the link between poverty and educational attainment, which was the guiding principle behind his party's Pupil Deprivation Grant. He said pupils who receive free school meals were up to two and a half times less likely to get 5 GCSE grade A*-C than other pupils.
He joined Lindsay Whittle in condemning the proposal to withdraw from the European Convention, and cited an example where The Sun went to court after their privacy was infringed despite opposing the Human Rights Act. Peter suggested that those who oppose human rights legislation simply don't understand what's covered, pointing out what he described as "a number of factual inaccuracies" in the Conservative party proposal which were brought up by former Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC.
Mick Antoniw AM (Lab, Pontypridd) said the Human Rights Act was a "jewel in the crown" of the last Labour Westminster administration. He said the threat of withdrawing from the convention was one of "the gravest threats to the reputation of the UK and its international standing". He accused the Conservatives of trying to bat off UKIP, saying, "You cannot cherry-pick with human rights" and that decisions will sometimes go for or against "us" (by which he means the UK, presumably) – citing two examples - the use of torture in Northern Ireland and thalidomide victims.
Julie Morgan AM (Lab, Cardiff North) focused on opportunities for women. She bemoaned the lack of progress, focusing on drops in women in senior positions in organisations like the NHS, fewer women council leaders and fewer women elected representatives. Julie did point out the gender balance of the Welsh Government as a positive and the fact that the Assembly has more women representatives than most other legislatures. She suggested that the Assembly consider different ways of working in "a fresh, radical way".
Former Communities & Tackling Poverty Minister, Jeff Cuthbert AM (Lab, Caerphilly), will have overseen many of the things covered in the report.
He raised an important point about community cohesion, which is especially important as it's been revealed over the last few months that Muslims from the Cardiff area have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS. He said the joint faith committee set up by the Welsh Government have a vital role to play here to "spread the message of peace, tolerance and co-existence".
In response to the issues raised in the debate, Lesley Griffiths said she welcomed the Modern Slavery Bill and said Wales was "way ahead of every country in the UK" on this. She said the proposed Gender-based Violence Bill covers FGM and in her previous role she wrote to school headteachers to raise this issue.
She said she will continue to have a proactive role in increasing representation of under-represented groups, including women, and highlighted a number of schemes and events aimed at doing just that.
Lesley described the Conservative's proposed withdrawal from the European Convention as a "huge backward step" and said the Welsh Government will do "everything in their power to challenge this" if the Conservatives are re-elected to office next May.
The Assembly approved an amended motion by 41 votes to 11 that :
- Welcomed the Modern Slavery Bill.
- Welcomed that forced marriage is now a criminal offence.
- Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure schools have trained staff who can recognise signs of domestic abuse.
- Calls for greater action from the Welsh Government to stop FGM.
- Regrets the little progress that's been made in increasing women's representation in public life.
- Believes continued membership of the European Convention on Human Rights is in Wales' interest, and welcomes the role it's played in "protecting and promoting equality".
Worth Fighting For
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| It might not be important in day-to-day matters, but issues like this could, in the future, win the independence argument amongst the intelligentia. ....and it's being handed to nationalists on a plate by right-wing Unionists. (Pic : The Telegraph) |
As I said at the beginning, it's very rarely we have Assembly debates on so many "high end" issues that are, in the main, non-devolved and form the basis for democracy, our personal freedoms and liberties.
It's clear that the Welsh Government and National Assembly take their own responsibilities here very seriously (perhaps too seriously), and we now have things like a Human Trafficking Co-ordinator. The number of cases annually are, however, very small and there's a danger Wales is going to replicate that episode of The Simpsons with the "Bear Patrol".
"Human trafficking" has a stereotyped image of young women being shackled and brought here - from Eastern Europe and further afield - to be forced into prostitution and/or sexual slavery. That happens of course, but the growing problem is – as highlighted by the BBC earlier this week, and an ongoing court case in Wales – men being trafficked and used as slave labour and/or trapped in indentured servitude.
On the issue of women's representation, I've brought that up before (How do you get more women into politics?). While there's a need for gender balance, as I said last time, quotas don't work. If I'm electing someone, or looking to appoint someone to a senior position, I want them to be the best possible candidate. That judgement should always be based on what they say and do, not what genitalia they have.
Women are disadvantaged here because of prevailing stereotypes and perceptions. Laws and quotas won't fix that, and might reinforce the perception and stereotypes that women can only achieve high office through tokenism and not their own qualities and strengths. Mentoring and building confidence so women come forward under their own steam is the best course of action here, and the Llywydd, Rosemary Butler (Lab, Newport West), has taken that on as a personal mission.
Another key area here was domestic violence. Relationship education was dropped from the Gender-based Violence Bill, but it should really be in there. It's unfortunate that the Welsh Government have caved to pressure from the Third Sector (as expected) to shift the emphasis wholly or mainly back to women, but as long as they don't completely gut the gender neutrality of the Bill itself there shouldn't be a problem.
Now for the grim bit, possibly prophetic.
Remember what I said when I brought up capital punishment last year. If the UK withdraws from the ECHR (I don't think it's likely, tbh), there's a real possibility that not long afterwards there'll be talk of a return of the death penalty in the UK.
It's always nice to see Conservative and Labour AMs continue to make such a strong case for Welsh independence.
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