EVAW responds to the Angiolini Inquiry Part Two

The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) responds today to the publication of Part Two of Lady Eilish Angiolini’s independent inquiry, established to examine how an off-duty serving police officer was able to abduct, rape and murder a member of the public, and whether there is an ongoing risk of recurrence across policing.

Part Two focuses on police culture, women’s safety in public spaces, and the systemic failures highlighted by Sarah Everard’s murder.

The inquiry concludes that sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces are a whole-society problem, and that current prevention efforts are too short-term, uncoordinated and under-resourced.

Lady Angiolini found that “efforts to try to achieve long-term change are met with a series of uncoordinated, short-term measures, powered by good will as opposed to proper funding. Angiolini states that “this will not work. Women will continue to be harmed.”

The inquiry found that over the last 3 years:

• 48% women experienced an incident where they felt unsafe in a public space due to the actions or behaviours of (an)other person(s). 
• For women aged 18-24 this went up to 87% – almost 9 in 10 women. 
• Around three quarters of women aged 18-24 had specifically felt unsafe in a public space due to the actions or behaviour of a man or men. 

The inquiry makes 12 further recommendations, building on its initial report. Some of these echo longstanding calls made by EVAW in relation to 

• A multi-year, funded prevention strategy using a public health approach.
• National roll-out of Operation Soteria 
• A Home Office-led public information campaign.
• Improved data collection, including on protected characteristics.
• Greater focus on men and boys, and new research and interventions targeting perpetrators.
• Accelerated action on Part One reforms, including a clear ban on police applicants with sexual offence records and explicit commitments to being anti-sexist and anti-racist.
• Government to provide a full response to each of the recommendations in the Bertin Review on pornography.

However, while the inquiry was framed around a criminal justice lens EVAW notes concerns about presenting the solutions under this framework. There are additional significant concerns about the expansion of undercover policing in the nighttime economy under Project Vigilance. EVAW believes this cannot be the solution to police-perpetrated abuse.  

EVAW also notes the absence of online environments in the report  – public spaces where women and girl’s safety is very much under threat. Prevention strategies must treat digital spaces as public spaces and include regulation, accountability for platforms, and education on digital citizenship.

Andrea Simon, Director of EVAW, says:

“This inquiry confirms what women and girls have been telling us for years: that the threat and reality of men’s violence restricts our everyday lives, and efforts to prevent it remain piecemeal, short-term and chronically underfunded.

We welcome the report’s focus on long-term, whole-society prevention and on addressing perpetrator’s behaviour. For too long, society has enabled this abuse, and placed the burden on women to keep themselves safe. 

It is deeply concerning that, nearly two years on, policing has still not implemented basic reforms such as a ban on officers with sexual offence histories. Which is why more undercover police officers, as recommended with the rollout of Project Vigilance, cannot be the answer to police-perpetrated abuse. Women cannot be expected to trust a system that resists naming misogyny and racism, and continually fails to change. 

It is essential we do not limit our thinking to the criminal justice system, that we treat online spaces as public spaces, and long term prevention efforts are prioritised and properly funded. 

We look forward to the government’s imminent publication of the VAWG Strategy and urge that it prioritises prevention and change, as set out in our 5 key tests. We need political leadership and investment that matches the scale of this crisis. The safety of women and girls depends on it.”

ENDS

Media contact

Sinead Geoghegan, Communications Manager, media@evaw.org.uk 07960 744 502