SEEMA MALHOTRA was appointed Labour’s first shadow minister for preventing violence against women and girls yesterday.

Ms Malhotra said the extent of violence against women in Britain and abroad was “shocking” and not enough was done to prevent such crimes or help victims.

“I will be looking to change this and make sure a Labour government offers a real alternative to women and children trapped in cycles of violence.”

“It’s significant that Labour has made this such a priority.”

The Office for National Statistics recorded 473,000 victims of sexual offences last year — of whom 404,000 were women.

Women made up an estimated 87 per cent of rape victims and 89 per cent of victims of “intense and prolonged” domestic abuse — with a shocking 12.9 million incidents of domestic violence against women recorded last year.

The Feltham and Heston MP will work under shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and will focus on female genital mutilation, sexual violence, forced marriage, trafficking and prostitution.

Ms Cooper said Ms Malhotra, who entered Parliament in 2011 in a by-election following the death of Alan Keen, would be a “huge asset.

“She has always been a champion of women’s equality,” she said, pointing to her ongoing presidency of the Fabian Women’s Network.

Ms Malhotra will also work with Labour’s women’s safety commission, which is drawing up new laws to be implemented in an Ed Miliband administration.

The commission will propose reforms to the criminal justice system and measures to improve women’s safety.

Fellow members include shadow minister for crime and security Diana Johnson and Vera Baird QC, a former solicitor-general for England and Wales who is now police and crime commissioner for Northumbria. Ms Baird also sits on the Morning Star’s management committee.

Labour leader Mr Miliband said Ms Malhotra’s appointment was “another indication of the importance a Labour government will place” on tackling violence against women.

“Yvette has rightly put this at the heart of her vision for the Home Office.”