Lords
Proceedings
8 July 2026
Safe Refugee Routes for Students
My Lords, first the Taliban prevented Afghan females studying and now the Home Office are preventing them studying. Why have the Government not given them an exemption, given that Afghan female students make up a tiny proportion of all international students, to allow them to study in this country?
Lords
Proceedings
7 July 2026
Drugging and Sexual Assault of Women
My Lords, can the Minister tell us when the Government will have a public awareness-raising campaign to help women recognise and spot the signs and encourage them to report this type of abuse?
Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
Prisoner Early Release
Can the Minister tell us the projected number of rapists and child groomers who will be released, and over what period? Are we expecting hotspots around the country?
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Edinburgh Anti-Muslim Attacks
Muslims are terrified and do not feel safe. When will the Government update the hate crime strategy? It expired in 2020. When will the Government strengthen hate crime legislation? Loopholes in the law are being exploited by hate preachers. For example, stirring of religious hatred has to meet a muc…
Lords
Proceedings
18 June 2026
2 contributions
Transnational Marriage Abandonment
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and I declare an interest as CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK.
My Lords, transnational marriage abandonment has devastating consequences. It separates mothers from their children—a form of gender-based abuse. Australia has made it illegal, so perpetrators who abandon their wives and children abroad are charged with exit trafficking. Will the Government bring in…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Unite the Kingdom March
My Lords, Muslim women’s safety matters too. When will the Government announce funding for the safety and security of Muslim women? I know about the funding for mosque security and the helpline, so I am not asking about that. What about Muslim women? We feel invisible. By the way, I support Arsenal—…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
2 contributions
King’s Speech
My Lords, I will focus on the plans in the gracious Speech to modernise hate crime legislation. I declare my interests as CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network and non-executive member of the Law Commission board. The Government must confront a growing and dangerous reality: anti-Muslim hatred is normal…
I had ended.
Lords
Proceedings
16 March 2026
Social Cohesion Action Plan
My Lords, I declare an interest as the CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network UK. I was also a member of the working group on the definition. There was an orchestrated campaign to derail the work. Thankfully, it did not, and I thank the Government for adopting the definition.
Are the Government going to…
Lords
Proceedings
6 March 2026
International Women’s Day
My Lords —and I add “My Ladies” too in this International Women’s Day debate—I feel very humble standing in this Chamber speaking for the first time.
In my 47 years working for the Labour Party, including organising Conference and events, I have visited and worked with thousands of different venues…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 March 2026
3 contributions
Maternity Commissioner
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare an interest that I am the CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network, whose report recommending a maternity commissioner is cited in the Question.
My Lords, while there are outstanding examples of care, I know that there are serious issues in maternity services. That is why this Government launched an independent national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care, chaired by the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, which is expected to make rec…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 February 2026
Shamima Begum
I can assure the noble Baroness that the individual is not being used as a political football. The previous Government took the decision under the British Nationality Act 1981 to deprive her of her citizenship status. It is not a step that is taken lightly; it is taken only after careful considerati…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Maternal Mortality
I understand what the noble Baroness is saying and her frustration, which I am sure many of us share. The purpose of the investigation by my noble friend Lady Amos is to pull together all the learning and all the inquiries. She has, for example, given a real voice to those affected, speaking to 170 …
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Official Development Assistance
My Lords, we on this Bench continue to lament the reduction in ODA. I call on the Government, as others have, to publish a clear road map for returning to previous commitments on international development, which affects so many people, particularly, as has already been said, women and girls.
In the…
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I declare my interest of CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network UK. We have a helpline and we deal with honour-based abuse cases.
While I support in principle the introduction of a statutory definition of honour-based abuse, it is essential that the Home Office concludes its work on the defini…
Lords
Debate
17 December 2025
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I was not going to speak on this amendment, but the noble Lord, Lord Marks, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, have inspired me to speak. I support the amendment and would add another set of people who do exactly the same: spiritual faith healers. They do coercive and controllin…
Lords
Proceedings
17 December 2025
2 contributions
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
My Lords—
My Lords, the Minister has said that it is a full strategy. Does the strategy address the disproportionately higher domestic homicide rates among black, Asian and minority ethnic women? Will there be ring-fenced funding for minoritised women’s groups?
Lords
Debate
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
I too would like to thank the Government for these amendments, because helplines have seen a rise in non-fatal strangulation offences, and not everything gets reported to the police. We have seen a rise at the charity that I run, the Muslim Women’s Network helpline. Research shows that if a victim i…
My Lords, I was unable to speak at Second Reading about the amendments to which I have added my name. I am extremely grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Owen, for her persistence in pursuing the issues that she raised about a year ago. I highlighted the problem of sexually explicit audio recordings…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 November 2025
Non-Crime Hate Incidents
The noble Baroness is right that one of the purposes of non-crime hate incident assessments is to assess whether there are potential problems or challenges in a particular area. Last year, for example, 44% of religious hate crime offences targeted Muslims, while 24% targeted Jewish people, and there…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Elon Musk
I am grateful to the noble Baroness. The Government care about the safety of all women, and that is why we are putting in place a strategy to tackle violence against women and girls over the next 10 years. That strategy will be produced very shortly. I know that the noble Baroness has made represent…
Lords
Oral Questions
30 October 2025
National Curriculum: Religious Education
I can only repeat that I cannot be specific about the content of the curriculum after the finding of the review, but all the matters that the noble Baroness raises around inclusion, respect and recognising achievements in the areas that she mentioned are critical. We look forward to the result of th…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 October 2025
MBRRACE-UK Report 2025
I would be very pleased to make that information available in writing. The noble Baroness makes an important point. Data is key to our advances, particularly where we are seeking to address inequalities on racial lines.
Lords
Oral Questions
17 July 2025
India and Pakistan: Peace Representations
My Lords, I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hussain, for initiating this debate. Of course, all of us come with very different viewpoints from where we originate. The ultimate goal is to ensure that there is peace in the region. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is look at the elepha…
Lords
Oral Questions
7 July 2025
Prisons: Mothers and Babies
The general rule is that babies can stay with mothers in prison for up to 18 months, but there is flexibility so they can stay longer if required. It is really important that when women leave prison with their babies, they have somewhere to live and a wraparound support network. That is why it is im…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 June 2025
Perinatal Mental Health
The noble Baroness raises a very important point, particularly on voices not being heard. I am sure she heard the announcement on maternity safety made by the Secretary of State on Monday. He highlighted the issue of women’s voices and that women are so often not listened to. That is particularly th…