Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, the cop in charge nationally of work on VAWG (violence against women and girls). She is Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, Deputy CEO of the College of Policing.
She says: “We are absolutely determined to turn the tide on violence and abuse faced by women and girls and will continue to work tirelessly to do better for victims.
“Our focus will always be to bring the men behind these pervasive crimes to justice. By enhancing the way we use data and intelligence, we will improve our ability to identify, intercept and arrest those causing the most harm in communities.
“We know that continuous improvement is needed to strengthen policing’s response to VAWG. Improvements must be driven nationally, ensuring consistency from force to force to give victims the service they expect and deserve.”
The occasion for her comments was the publishing of a 70-page ‘National Policing Statement for VAWG‘ by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing. She recommends a policing hub, a National Centre for Public Protection in the College of Policing, would support forces with specialist knowledge and training for investigators and officers, and lead on a national approach to preventative work with other agencies. She adds: “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 VAWG.
“We aspire to a position where an effective criminal justice response to VAWG is the last resort. We need to move forward as a society to make change and no longer accept VAWG as inevitable.”
Stalking
Meanwhile the London Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman brought out a report on the experience of victims of stalking that described shortcomings throughout the criminal justice response: from ‘barriers to reporting’ to the authorities ringing those who have reported cases, on a withheld number – which typically is the way that stalkers make their calls. The report concluded that the law should be reformed, to make ‘a standalone stalking offence that provides a clear definition of stalking to simplify investigations and prosecutions and remove the onus on the victim to prove the impact of the behaviour which is at too high a threshold’. Official response to the National Stalking Consortium’s Supercomplaint is expected later this year, as the report pointed out.
