Asha Patel, East Midlands
An MP who said she became pregnant after being groomed and raped as a teenager has praised government-backed victim reforms, after campaigning to stop rapists having parental rights.
Natalie Fleet, the Labour MP for Bolsover in Derbyshire, spearheaded a campaign to amend the Victims and Courts Bill.
On Monday, changes to restrict convicted abusers of parental responsibility were tabled in Parliament.
Fleet, who became pregnant when she was 15 after she started seeing an older man, said the amendments could “finally offer protection” for children and mothers.
The MP, who grew up on a council estate in Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, said growing up, she believed her pregnancy was her fault.
“I believed that I had done something wrong and never, ever saw myself as a child who was about to give birth to a child.
“I was called a wide range of names and I believed them,” she said.
She hoped sharing her story, and changes to the law, would encourage other women to come forward about their own experiences.
‘End the fear’
Fleet said she had spoken to a number of women who could be affected by the amendments.
“One woman told me about a perpetrator that said ‘I will have parental responsibility for that child, it doesn’t matter if I go to prison or not, I will make sure that I never leave you or the child alone’,” she said.
Fleet added mothers had “lived in fear” of their rapists “interfering” in their children’s lives, but that the amendments would “end that fear”.
She added: “It will deliver powerful, lasting change for thousands of women and children and I am delighted that this government has listened to our concerns and acted so swiftly.”
What the amendment means
The new measures mean parental responsibility will be automatically restricted if a child is born as a result of rape. The restriction would apply to that specific child.
Parental responsibility would also be restricted when a parent is convicted of serious sexual offences against any child, and has been sentenced to four or more years in prison.
The amendments to the bill – which is currently at committee stage – would restrict the decisions a parent could make in their child’s life, including their schooling, medical care or trips abroad.
Where it has not been established in criminal proceedings that the child was conceived by rape but the offender is convicted of rape, and a crown court considers the child “may have resulted from the rape”, the case would be referred to the local authority for it to go through family court proceedings.
Minister for Victims and Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said: “These reforms will shield both mothers and children from the heinous actions of predatory parents as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade under our Plan for Change.”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy added the reforms sent a clear message that the “rights and safety of children come first”.
“This Government is committed to standing up for victims and ensuring that those who commit the most vile crimes against children are never in a position to cause further harm,” he said.
