Landmark net inquiry to shape UK law for first time

Legislation on the rights of children and women is set to be changed following a major internet inquiry into the experiences of survivors of domestic violence.

This will be the first time an Act of Parliament will be influenced by web-based testimony.

An online collaboration between Women's Aid, the Hansard Society and an all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence, has led to a report on hundreds of abused women's experience in the UK which could rewrite the Children's Act.

MP Margaret Moran, chair of the group, this week presented the "Womenspeak" report to Tessa Jowell, minister for women.

The Lord Chancellor has already pledged to review the Children's Act in the light of Womenspeak's findings on the potentially negative impact of child contact orders.

Over 1,000 emails were received during the secure Womenspeak forum, which took place in March. Six MPs, all members of the all-party group, took part in the discussions.

One participant, Sharon, explained why the Internet was such an effective medium for the debate. "These women were safe in the knowledge that no one knew them, there would be no comeback and they could choose how much to say, and when. For many, it was the first control they had had over their own lives, in years," she said.

Tessa Jowell said: "I think that the very best tribute we pay to the courage of the women who have gone online is for them to see their issues translated into the kind of action that protects the thousands and thousands of women from whom we have not yet heard."

MP Margaret Moran told an Economic and Social Research council conference on 'Virtual Society', Monday, that online consultations could challenge the whole structure of representative democracy. She said: "We can reach out to groups that are usually unheard of in political discourse, and actually incorporate voter experience into policy decisions."

Dr Stephen Coleman, director of media studies at the Hansard Society, commented: "We would expect all major government consultations to be Web consultations in a few years."