Violence against women and girls branded 'national emergency'

A leading police chief is branding violence against women and girls a "national emergency" in a new report, with nearly 3,000 of the crimes recorded daily.

More than one million violent crimes against women and girls were recorded by police in 2022/23, according to the report commissioned by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing.

It's estimated that at least one in every 12 women will be a victim per year - equating to two million women - with the exact number expected to be much higher because of crimes that go unreported.

The deputy chief executive of the College of Policing said violence against women and girls had "reached epidemic levels" in England and Wales and called for government intervention in the "overwhelmed" criminal justice system.

Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said: "A centralised hub within policing that brings together specialised skill sets and capabilities would support police forces in improving their response to violence against women and girls.

"However, this will only achieve progress as part of a wider, effective criminal justice system, which at present is overwhelmed and under-performing for victims.

"Violence against women and girls is a national emergency."

"We need the support and direction of government to intervene and address the current problems within the criminal justice system and lead the way on a whole-system approach to violence against women and girls."

Kate Chadwick is the Marketing and Communications lead for Tomorrow's Women, a charity supporting women in Chester and Birkenhead. She says the issue is endemic in society: "From what we're seeing, women don't feel safe at all. Whether that's out at night, in clubs or bars, or women experiencing harassment inside or outside of their homes. It's not just something that happens every so often, it's something we are seeing every single day.

"Women should be able to feel safe; it should be a given. We think it's really important to focus on changing the behaviours of perpetrators rather than just saying 'this is the world and you've got to deal with it', it's about the importance of perpetrator programmes and changing that core behaviour.

We need to create a world where women shouldn't have to put things in place to feel safe. They shouldn't have to carry a safety alarm or worry about their friends getting home safely."

The Government's Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said: “The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this government will treat it as the national emergency that it is.

“That’s why we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these devastating crimes.

“That must start with drastically improving the policing and criminal justice response, including a relentless pursuit of dangerous perpetrators and sustained support for victims. We welcome the national centre as a first step to focus policing efforts, and we now expect to see sustained work across policing to drive up standards and to ensure there is always a swift and specialist response to these appalling crimes.”

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