60+ orgs set out expectations for the VAWG strategy

More than 60 organisations working to end violence against women have joined together to set out five key asks for the upcoming VAWG strategy, amidst concerns about its delayed publication.

Last July, the government was elected on a mandate to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. But over one year into its term, the government has yet to produce its long-awaited new strategy for making this mission a reality – leaving survivors, frontline support services and campaigners without vital protections or adequate funding, and unclear about its plans for tackling this abuse.

The facts about violence against women and girls are stark, and underscore why urgent action is needed to tackle this epidemic:

• 1 in 4 women will be raped in her lifetime and sexual offences are at the highest level recorded
• More than 90% of perpetrators of rape and sexual assault are known to their victims
• Almost 1 in 3 women will experience domestic abuse
• One woman every four days in the UK is murdered by a partner or ex-partner

Weaponisation of VAWG

Whilst we await the new strategy, we are seeing VAWG being hijacked across the political spectrum to further an anti-migrant agenda and our human rights protections under attack, while the funding crisis for specialist VAWG organisations rolls on and survivors are left in limbo. 

In recent weeks there has been an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that wrongly hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence. This not only undermines genuine concerns about women’s safety but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.

It is an uncomfortable reality that VAWG is perpetrated in every economic group, ethnicity, age and social group, including by people who move to the UK. The racist idea that this is solely an imported problem flies in the face of women and girls’ daily experiences in the UK. Women’s organisations are calling for urgent, strategic action to both prevent abuse and support survivors. 

Five key tests for the VAWG strategy

Amidst this worrying political rhetoric, the End Violence Against Women Coalition and 60+ expert VAWG organisations have produced five key tests the government’s new VAWG must meet in order to meaningfully tackle and prevent VAWG:

• Focus on primary prevention: delivering a public health approach to preventing VAWG, from investment in education to public campaigns to raise awareness and shift attitudes and behaviours and regulating the online environment.

• Address all forms of VAWG in an integrated way: reflecting women and girls’ lived realities in both support provision and the metrics used to measure prevalence, frequency, impact and how this differs among different groups of women. This follows concerns about the potential exclusion of child sexual abuse and exploitation from the strategy

• Include all women and girls without discrimination: taking an equalities lens to address the ways Black and minoritised, migrant and asylum-seeking, disabled and LGBT+ survivors are disproportionately subjected to VAWG, ensure access to specialist support and prevent the criminalisation of survivors. This includes a firewall between statutory services and immigration enforcement to stop migrant victims being treated as offenders when they seek safety.

• Sustainably fund specialist support services: delivering a national infrastructure of sustainably-funded, specialist VAWG organisations that are resourced to provide the full range of interventions and wraparound support that women and girls need, with ring-fenced funding for services led ‘by and for’ marginalised survivors and specialist sexual violence services, and greater transparency about funding decisions.

• Accountability across government: with a role and responsibility for every government department, measured by an accountability framework. 

These 5 asks are not listed in order of importance and should be given equal weighting.

Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

“The last few weeks have once again seen violence against women and girls dominate the headlines, as political leaders have wrongly and alarmingly scapegoated migrants for this abuse instead of addressing its root causes. At the same time, the human rights protections that survivors rely on are under attack.

We call on politicians to show leadership in standing against this and committing to action where it’s most needed: addressing the funding crisis for life-saving support services and investing in work to prevent violence and abuse. Following the cabinet reshuffle, we will be looking to the new Secretaries of State and Ministers across government to deliver on its ambition to halve VAWG in a decade.”

Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director of Imkaan, said:

“Violence against women and girls continues to devastate lives, particularly for Black and minoritised women who are so often overlooked in national policies and legislations. We know that ending VAWG requires clear leadership, sustainable investment, and a strategy that speaks to the realities of all women and girls. That is why we are asking: where is the VAWG strategy for marginalised and minoritised communities? 

Survivors, and the specialist Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ services that stand alongside them, need urgent reassurance that the government remains committed to a comprehensive and inclusive approach that leaves no one behind. These organisations are not optional extras – they trusted specialist lifelines that reduce barriers and make equal access to safety possible. 

For decades, Imkaan and our members have led the way in shaping policy, practice, and accountability around ending violence against Black and minoritised women and girls. Yet without a clear strategy, the direction and stability our sector needs is missing. This places already underfunded ‘by and for’ organisations under even greater pressure, undermining their ability to protect and support Black and minoritised women and girls. A strong, inclusive national strategy backed by long-term investment is not just a policy document, but it is a lifeline. Without it, marginalised women and girls survivors remain at risk, and progress towards safety, equity, and justice is put in jeopardy.”

Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said:

“There is no question that as a society we must do more to prevent rape and sexual abuse, and provide effective criminal justice as well as intervention responses to the overwhelming numbers of perpetrators who are currently abusing women and girls with almost complete impunity. Prevention and intervention begin with the provision of services like Rape Crisis Centres, without whom survivors would very often have nowhere to go, to talk about what has happened and begin the process of recovery. 

Without these life changing services, we cannot hope to see justice, nor can we hope to meet the needs of the thousands of women and girls who each year endure these crimes. We look forward to the publication of the government’s strategy in due course, and hope that it will cover all forms of male perpetrated violence against all women and girls, and provide survivors with the support and care they need and deserve.”

ENDS