Policing ready to support government’s ambition to halve VAWG offences

T/Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said the promise has helped “elevate the scale of VAWG”, which she set out herself in July in the national policing threat assessment.

She said policing issued a “clear assessment of the epidemic of VAWG” with figures showing that one in ten women in this country are victims and one in 12 are estimated to be perpetrators.

Ms Blyth added: “No matter where you are in the country, whether in a city, town or more rural area, the issues are the same. But now everyone is looking through the same lens. There has been a real shift of focus on VAWG and that gives me encouragement.”

Having stepped into the role of interim chief constable in Gloucestershire she stated that “she could see the absolute commitment that frontline officers and staff are giving to the pernicious nature of domestic abuse, rape, stalking and harassment”, which are the primary threats of VAWG, as well as online harm and child sexual exploitation abuse.

Ms Blyth recognises there is still so much more to do when every three days a woman dies at the hands of a man, often behind closed doors.

“We need to do more to stop male-perpetrated violence” she said at the outset of the national ‘16 days of action campaign’ which calls for an end to VAWG,” she said.

Ms Blyth, reaffirmed this message at the Prime Minister’s roundtable on Monday, and talked about what policing needs to tackle offending which “largely and disproportionately affects women and girls”.

At a Women’s Aid seminar on Tuesday, she reflected on the huge challenges as part of a wider criminal justice system, which is unable to deal effectively with the number of perpetrators.

She said: “When one in 20 of the population are perpetrators, we can’t lock them all up, it’s about how we change attitudes and change behaviour.”

Ms Blyth made it clear that policing must maintain the focus on a data-driven approach to recognise the most dangerous repeat suspects and that for these a prison sentence was paramount, but also recognised that more community-based approaches were needed to manage the risk presented by some male perpetrators, and that ultimately prevention is key.

This requires a system wide approach where education is key, schools have a part, but so does industry and other sectors, she said.

Ms Blyth added: “Misogyny is everywhere, across society. This culture needs to change, especially when younger people are influenced online. I am horrified by what some are exposed to, and that violence and sexualised violence are seen as norms. It’s a real concern, but it is outside the scope of policing.

“We need to target perpetrators. Our courts and prisons are under immense pressure, and we know prison is not always the right outcome. This is why we need a cross-sector approach with prevention at the heart to protect victims now and in the future.”

In the past four years there has been an increase in victims coming forward for support, with VAWG recorded crime up by 37 per cent. And from 2022-23, more than one million VAWG-related crimes were recorded, which accounted for 20 per cent of all recorded crime.

“It’s talked about much more now, and we hope we have done enough to make victims feel confident in reporting and that when they come forward, they will be listened to and taken seriously,” Ms Blyth said

“I am proud of how policing has mobilised itself to tackle the scale and threat of VAWG offences. If I was a perpetrator, thinking I would get away with it, I would think differently now.”