Scottish Government acts on domestic abuse

By Luke Nicholas

One of the best things about the Plaid Youth movement, in my own opinion, is that 2 of our members are actually AMs. No other youth movement in Wales- as far as we are aware- can currently claim such an achievement. I'm sure there is research to suggest that Plaid Cymru is not necessarily the strongest party amongst young people at the moment, but it's clear that we in the future will be a very viable option for young voters who have grown up under devolution. Our appeal to the youth is enhanced by the fact that our two AMs- Bethan Jenkins and Nerys Evans- are among the most prominent of the backbenchers in the National Assembly.

One of Nerys' most significant achievements has been in driving forward the cross-party agenda on domestic abuse. Eventually the Welsh Government took action and created its own strategy and awareness campaign based on tackling the huge problem of domestic violence.

The Scottish Government has now acted decisively on this issue, becoming the first government in the UK to use the NHS to address domestic abuse. 5,000 staff will be trained to specialise in the field of prevention, so that the SNP Government is able to offer a "co-ordinated and consistent" level of service to the victims.

It would be really worthwhile if the Welsh Government took a similar step, building on the existing work that has been done.