Nahar Choudhury, Solace CEO says, “The true scale of violence against women and girls in this country is not surprising to organisations working day to day supporting women and girls, and the new data by National Police Chiefs’ Council and College shows how much more work we must do to tackle it. With 1 in 12 women estimated to be victims and 1 in 20 people estimated to be perpetrators, we welcome their call for a whole society approach. Even these alarming numbers are likely to be an underestimate of the true scale of the problem as many women do not feel able to report their experiences to the police.
A whole system approach means starting at the earliest stages in educating our young people on VAWG and Government must ensure that every agency is working collaboratively and has the tools and training to spot and support domestic abuse victims. With violence against women and girls rising by 37% over 5 years, and now officially classed as a national threat by government, we also need adequately funded specialist support services that can ensure women get the help they need, now and in the future.
At Solace we agree that a well functioning criminal justice system should be the last report in responding to VAWG. The Casey Review showed how much work there is to do across policing to ensure they are protecting women and girls. The calls by the NPCC are a good start to more effective policing of VAWG but this must be matched by an effective CPS, probation and courts system to ensure that victims are centred and protected at every stage.”
Read the report in full here