VIOLENCE against women and girls (VAWG) is a “national emergency” with nearly 3,000 crimes recorded every day, a leading police chief has warned in a new report.
More than one million violent crimes against women and girls were recorded by police in 2022-23, according to a report commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing.
Today’s report estimates 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.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, who is the national lead for policing VAWG, said the criminal justice system was “underperforming for victims,” with the report stating VAWG was at such a scale “it cannot be addressed through law enforcement alone.”
She said that some of VAWG is also linked to the “radicalisation of young people online” and that online influencers like Andrew Tate could radicalise young men and boys into extreme misogyny in the same way terrorists draw in their followers.
One in 20 adults in England and Wales are perpetrators of such violence every year, the report estimated, with the actual number thought to be significantly higher.
The age of offenders is also getting younger, with the average age of a suspect for child sexual abuse and exploitation now 15.
Women’s Aid head of external affairs Sophie Francis-Cansfield said the report’s findings were “alarming,” adding: “Women’s Aid agree that VAWG is a national threat, and echoes calls for a whole-system approach to tackling the problem and centres the most marginalised.”
NSPCC associate head of policy Clare Kelly also called for a society-wide response, urging the government to set out how it will prevent all forms of child sexual abuse.
“Tech companies must also step up to stop boys from being targeted with vile misogynistic content and put safety measures in place to prevent grooming and sexual abuse proliferating their platforms,” she said.
She added that schools need support to deliver effective relationships and sex education that is “high-quality, inclusive and relevant to the realities of children’s lives, to embed a culture where girls are safe, heard and empowered and healthy relationships thrive.”
End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) executive director Andrea Simon said that record data will “never completely capture the extent of this abuse” and that the figures were “only the tip of the iceberg.”
She said that while the group welcomes stronger focus on prevention, “any response to this violence must take a whole-society approach [and] this does not mean policing passing the buck to other agencies.”
“Policing has come under fire in recent years following high profile revelations about the scale of violence against women perpetrated by officers themselves, as well as other forms of misconduct resulting from systemic misogyny, racism and other forms of discrimination.
“Over the last few years, we’ve heard countless commitments to change from the very top levels of policing, but the pace of this change has been far too slow.
“Too many women and girls have been failed while leaders conduct reviews, launch initiatives and deliver a range of strategies and plans.
“We don’t want to see another piece of paper that doesn’t deliver tangible change - women’s lives lie in the balance.”
