Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG): Halving it Through Protection

Perspectives

Samantha Cunningham, Executive Director (Strategy) | Callyane Desroches, Head of Policy and Strategy | Rosie Margolis, Senior Analyst | Anousha Karim, Junior Analyst

Monday 27 January 2025

In this series, we address the government's commitment to halve VAWG. Building on our work to help shape the Policing VAWG National Framework for Delivery [1], we apply the 4P framework – Prevent, Protect, Pursue, Prepare – to identify tangible actions, beyond policing, that are needed to drive forward a consistent, unified response to VAWG.

In this second blog, we focus on protection, identifying the tools and measures that need to be taken to protect women and girls from current and future harm.

For too long, the voluntary and community sector (VCS) has been the first line of protection for violence against women and girls. While there is undoubtedly a place for this advocacy and support, this approach implies that VAWG is inevitable - a societal issue to manage rather than prevent. This differs to other crime types, where prevention and enforcement are at the forefront of the response. To protect victims is to stop repeated occurrences of violence, coercion and abuse. This requires an immediate and effective response to incidents, and consistent offender management to reduce future harm. The Government must ensure women and girls are protected every step of the way, through embedding proactive and protective measures to reduce risk and disrupt harm.

Building a stronger statutory responses to VAWG

The voluntary and community sector (VCS) plays a vital role in supporting victims and survivors, particularly where statutory services fall short. Offering critical advocacy, emotional support, and practical assistance, the VCS helps victims and survivors to navigate complex systems and move forward in their recovery from violence, coercion and abuse. However, while funding to the sector has increased over the last 15 years, the demand for services has continued to grow - highlighting the need for a fundamentally different response to effectively counter the prevalence of VAWG.

The reliance on the VCS exposes a systemic failure in local authority and statutory services to meet their responsibilities. The delivery of robust, proactive protection for victims and survivors requires mandated, enforceable standards for local authorities in responding to VAWG, alongside modified funding structures which equip statutory bodies to effectively fulfil their role. It is critical that protection is built into the system, instead of continuing to rely on the VCS to pick up the pieces. The government must promote a sustainable, joined-up response, that protects victims and survivors from harm.

Alongside a strong statutory response, it is fundamental to preserve and support the voluntary and community sector’s specialist expertise - particularly in delivering culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care for marginalised communities. But, to achieve the best outcomes, the sector must be enabled to focus on these areas of specialism, instead of using scarce resources to fill systemic gaps left by an ineffective statutory response.

The promise of Domestic Abuse Protective Orders

Civil orders offer a further layer of protection, embedding a victim-centred approach through which ongoing risk can be addressed, without requiring survivors to repeatedly relive their trauma in court. However, a recent inspection revealed that breaches of protective orders are often not pursued [2]. Additionally, inconsistencies in enforcement between forces mean victims receive unequal protection depending on their location. Breaches of non-molestation orders frequently fail to proceed due to “evidential difficulties,” even when victims support action. [3]

Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) have been recently introduced and are currently being piloted in the Metropolitan Police (boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, and Sutton), Greater Manchester Police, and the British Transport Police[4]. These orders safeguard against non-physical abuse, such as coercive control, and impose positive requirements on perpetrators, such as attending behaviour change programmes. Crucially, they can be applied for by police, victims, or third parties, making them flexible tools to meet victims’ needs. DAPOs are an opportunity for better mandated action across police forces, but must be robustly evaluated for effectiveness, and to ensure they can be scaled up to meet demand.

Protecting victims and survivors beyond policing

Protecting victims of VAWG requires more than just a criminal justice response. Other statutory services - including housing, health and social care - must play a role in identifying risks relating to disproportionate impact and repeat victimisation, intervening to protect women and girls from harm.

Housing - flipping the model

The current housing system often forces victims to flee their homes, meaning that perpetrators are able to remain in place, while the burden of safety is shifted on to survivors. As a result, many victims and survivors face homelessness, compounding existing trauma. In 2019-2020, at least 26,000 people in England became homeless due to domestic abuse [5], and 32% of homeless women identified domestic violence as a key factor in their situation [6]. To rectify this situation, the government should adopt a Whole Housing Approach, prioritising the removal of perpetrators from shared homes, and ensuring that victims and survivors have access to safe and secure housing.

Health check - spotting the signs

Health services are often the first point of contact for victims of VAWG, yet there is not a singular, consistent healthcare response. Building on the success of the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) model [7], The Government should ensure that health professionals are trained to identify and respond to signs of violence, coercion and abuse.

IRIS is a proven model, which equips GP teams with the tools to recognise VAWG, in addition to providing clear care pathways, and connecting patients to specialist support. An expansion of this programme would ensure that health services are not just responders, but proactive agents in reducing harm and improving safety for victims and their families.

Reimagining the multi-agency response

Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) have long been the blueprint for a partnership response to violence against women and girls. Designed to facilitate coordinated risk assessments and information-sharing, MARACs have the potential to deliver comprehensive protection for high-risk victims and survivors of VAWG [8]. However, MARACs have suffered from inconsistent funding, poor attendance, and variable delivery which has compromised their quality, and limited effectiveness in protecting victims and survivors from perpetrators of VAWG [9]. Action needs to be taken not just to reinvigorate MARACs, but to reimagine the entire multi-agency response. To halve VAWG, the government must work alongside local authorities to ensure that statutory services are required to engage in a partnership response, underpinned by national guidance on best practice and consistent funding structures. Crucially, this multi-agency framework must extend beyond high-risk cases to ensure that all women and girls are protected from further violence, coercion and abuse [10].

Conclusion

Protecting women and girls requires a stronger statutory response, alongside robustly enforced civil orders to reduce risk and disrupt harm. The government must disrupt the status quo treatment of VAWG as an inevitability, by stepping away from a reliance on the VCS, and embedding enforceable standards within housing, healthcare and local authority services to ensure that women and girls are protected from current and future harm. Protecting women and girls means stopping violence before it starts, preventing it from recurring, and ensuring victims and survivors have the stability and dignity they deserve.