Standing Up for Women and Girls
Having previously worked for a domestic abuse charity, Alex is a textbook example of how MPs can use their experience to promote change.
This has primarily been through her work on the Women and Equalities Committee, which she was elected to in late October, for example through her contributions to their inquiry into medical misogyny.
The inquiry found that there’s a clear lack of awareness and understanding of women’s reproductive health conditions among primary healthcare practitioners, whilst girls themselves are failed by insufficient and inconsistent relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) in school. This led Alex and the Committee to call on the Government to provide additional support for the early diagnosis and treatment of women’s reproductive health conditions.
Outside the Committee, Alex is sponsoring fellow Lib Dem MP, Josh Babarinde’s Domestic Abuse Bill, which aims to close loopholes surrounding convictions for domestic abusers. As the UK lacks a specific offence of ‘Domestic Abuse’, abusers are typically sentenced for crimes like battery and assault.
This not only fails to recognise the nature of their crimes and the experiences of their victims, but has also enabled some to get out of prison early as prisoner release schemes are blind to the immense variety within offences. By creating a specific offence of ‘Domestic Abuse’, Josh, Alex, and other proponents of the bill hope to close loopholes like this and protect the dignity and safety of survivors.
Alex has spoken in Parliament several times on topics including Violence Against Women and Girls, International Women’s Day and Relationships Education in Schools.
Alex’s expertise in this area was also recognised when she was called upon to serve as the Lib Dems' spokesperson during a debate on Violence Against Women and Girls, filling in for Christine Jardine MP.