The National Police Chiefs’ Council reported that, in 2022-23, 20% of all police-recorded crime was related to violence against women and girls. Violence against women and girls can have long-term impacts on victims, affecting them physically, mentally, socially and financially.
Over one in four women are estimated to be victims of sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetime, and one in 12 women are victims of VAWG each year, although the actual number is likely to be much higher.
Violence against women and girls is a significant and growing problem, affecting one in 12 women and causing significant harm. The Home Office leads the government’s efforts to address VAWG, but to date these efforts have not improved outcomes for the victims of these crimes or the safety of women and girls more widely.
The Home Office is not currently leading an effective cross-government response. It has a limited understanding of the extent of resources devoted to addressing VAWG across government and the impact this is having. Without this knowledge, the Home Office cannot be confident that the government is doing the best it can to keep women and girls safe.
The new government has set an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. To meet this ambition the Home Office will need to lead a coordinated, whole-system response that addresses the causes of VAWG.
The Home Office’s review of the existing evidence base could provide a foundation from which to develop the next strategy. But it will need to maintain a focus on continuous evaluation to ensure it can capture learning from local innovation and adapt its approach. The Home Office also needs to quickly establish the structures and incentives necessary to align all delivery partners behind the goal of reducing the significant harms caused by violence against women and girls. Abigail Ampofo, interim CEO of Refuge, said:
“Sadly, the findings of today’s NAO report come as no surprise. We support thousands of survivors every year, so we know all too well violence against women and girls (VAWG) is horrifically common. And yet, confidence in the justice system is at an all-time low, and every day survivors continue to be failed, which is having devastating and at times, fatal consequences.
More surprisingly, the NAO report found that the prevalence of domestic abuse was lower in 2023-24 than in 2009-10, but we know data represents just the tip of the iceberg, as women face a myriad of barriers when reporting to the police. Underreporting, coupled with inconsistent data collection and new police recording rules introduced in 2023, may create a misleading impression that domestic abuse is on the decline, when from our experience as a service provider, this is not the case at all. Meanwhile, the report highlighted a rise in sexual assault, with 20% of all police-recorded crime in 2022-23 relating to VAWG.
We welcomed the Government’s pledge to halve VAWG within the decade, but while 78% of the commitments made across both the Home Office’s VAWG Strategy and Domestic Abuse Plan were met by 2024, many of these commitments were not new, according to the report. And when a woman is being killed by a partner or ex-partner every five days in England and Wales, 78% is not enough.
The Government has vowed to take VAWG seriously, so it is incredibly disappointing to see the Home Office has underspent on its own VAWG budget by an average of 15% between 2021-22 and 2023-24, particularly at a time when support services for survivors are facing immense financial pressure. Refuge has consistently stressed the importance of increased funding for the VAWG sector, as without it, the Government will not be able to achieve its goal of halving VAWG. Specialist services, many of which are at breaking point, urgently need investment to reverse years of chronic underfunding.
We sincerely hope the Home Office’s new VAWG strategy, set to be shared in spring, will include a thorough, cross-Government plan for tackling systematic shortcomings in the justice system, as well as improved funding provisions for lifesaving VAWG services.”
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said that Women’s Aid welcomed the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, launched by the Government in 2021, which was intended to ensure a strong focus on prevention and a cross-government approach”. She continued:
“…but nearly five years on we share concerns raised in the new National Audit Office (NAO) report that there has not yet been the whole-system change needed to deliver meaningful outcomes for women and children.
For us the biggest concern around the previous strategy, as identified by the NAO, is that the Government does not know how well it is doing in tackling VAWG. There is no consistent definition of VAWG across Government and policing, nor a robust framework for monitoring and evaluating that is grounded in what works. As a result of this, it is impossible to know if progress is being made or not. In the upcoming strategy, there needs to be an agreed upon definition of VAWG which is used across departments and agencies, and clear metrics for measuring success focused on reducing harm, not solely incidents. The Government should take full advantage of the new VAWG advisory board and its sector representatives who have access to meaningful data and evidence on VAWG, and who are well placed to assess the impact of spending and commitments on VAWG across government.
There is particular pressure on the new Government to provide a tangible VAWG strategy that can actually be delivered on, as they have made a pledge to halve this epidemic the next decade. The figures reported by the NAO are only the tip of the iceberg, and this problem is much larger than it would appear. We know that only 1 in 5 women report abuse to police, and as our recently published Annual Audit found 1.6 million women experience domestic abuse alone last year. Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, that can no longer be ignored. We need to see a funded plan that addresses and measures progress on prevalence as well as the harmful attitudes that drive VAWG, along with adequate funding to support services, so that women and children can be safe.”
