Putting Prevention first in the fight against VAWG
- Ben Sadler
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been identified as a national emergency by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), with it estimated that over two million women are victims of male violence each year. Under the Safer Streets mission, the current government has set out the ambition to halve VAWG within the next decade, taking a holistic approach across government agencies.
The NPCC VAWG Framework for Delivery, published in 2024,[1] proposed an enhanced approach to tackling VAWG, adapting the proven ‘4P’ model of Prevent, Protect, Pursue and Prepare that has been effectively applied as part of the UK CONTEST strategy to counter terrorism. This presents an opportunity to consider the societal issues and wider interventions that are needed to take a whole-system approach to tackling the root causes of VAWG.
Principle One has been proud to be a White Ribbon UK supporter since early 2024, with many of our staff signed up as Champions and Ambassadors, committed to addressing the root causes of male violence against women, whether these are harmful attitudes, behaviours or systems. As part of this partnership, we have been delighted to support White Ribbon UK and the Centre for Protecting Women Online with the launch of the initial findings and recommendations for The Case for Investing in the Primary Prevention of Men’s Violence Against Women and Girls [2] at a fringe event at this year’s Labour Party Conference.
The initial findings underline that tackling VAWG is not simply a problem that can be addressed in the aftermath of a crime, but one that requires a society wide response, linking government departments with education providers, regulators, tech platform providers, employers and academia to achieve the culture change at the heart of White Ribbon UK’s mission.
Applying the 4P approach to tackling VAWG brings into focus how each aspect of the response to VAWG must reinforce the others. The work that Principle One has typically supported within policing has focused on ‘Protect’ and ‘Pursue’; safeguarding the victims of crime and ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice. Initiatives such as Operation Soteria have enabled policing to refocus their efforts around Pursue, and in the case of Soteria, focusing on tackling rape and serious sexual offences whilst seeking to address the historic challenges in achieving successful convictions.
The provision of enhanced victim support, focusing the investigation on the suspect and overcoming the barriers to going to court have seen initial improvements in conviction rates but many challenges remain. Delays with the investigative process and backlogs in the court system continue to impact victims and highlight the scale of the problem.
In parallel, there have been significant efforts by the Home Office around the Protect pillar. Legislation has been updated to reflect the changing nature of VAWG, with a range of measures from increased protections around domestic abuse to the introduction of new offences relating to sexual harassment and stalking, particularly in the online arena. Our experience working in neighbourhood policing, has identified challenges among front-line officers both in keeping pace with the policy and legislative change as well as having access to the information they need around victim risk assessment.
As part of our partnership with Police Now, we have launched a simple Protective Orders App, available through the Police Digital Service Microsoft Solutions catalogue, which has now been extended and has been rolled out across several forces. Delivering the App has highlighted the disconnect in data between different organisations working to safeguard victims and managing potential offenders. Not only is data sharing between forces limited by each force’s siloed IT systems, but there are wider disconnects between the court system, policing and third sector victim support agencies. Often those best placed on the front line to act don’t have the information they need to fully assess the risks presented and those prioritising resources don’t have the information they need to make decisions.
The NPCC VAWG strategy also focuses on ‘Prevent’ and the role policing plays in working with other agencies, whilst ‘Prepare’ acknowledges the need to invest in culture change, it also addresses the need to establish the right resources and skills in policing to enable effective implementation of the VAWG response.
With pressure on government spending at local and national level, it has never been more critical to combine resources and ensure that investment is made in areas that have a proven record of success The experience of CONTEST can provide lessons learnt in applying the 4P approach to VAWG, not just in relation to addressing the symptoms, but also in tackling the cultural norms that reinforce men’s behaviour towards women and early signs of ‘radicalisation’.
A more holistic approach to Prevent and Prepare can bring clarity around the interplay between agencies and drive a more effective whole system response to VAWG. Intervening early, as outlined in The Case for Investing in the Primary Prevention of Men’s Violence Against Women and Girls is the only way to reduce the burden on the criminal justice system and the spiralling socio-economic costs of the war on VAWG. Investment in primary prevention initiatives online, in schools and workplaces remain critically underfunded. This manifests itself in both the implementation of interventions and in the systems that underpin them, most notably with regards to data and the attempts to join up across agencies, as well as channelling funding to where it will be most effective.
Evidence-based or Precision policing focuses on where there are ‘hot spots’ of crime or threat and this approach can be used more widely to tackle VAWG.
Using the knowledge gained by officers on the front line as they work with victims can enable low cost, preventative interventions. This could simply be targeted investment in better street lighting, initiatives to promote safety within the nighttime economy or targeted education in schools. The End Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition[3] has highlighted how a broader delivery plan for VAWG could work across government departments enabling a whole society approach, which is reinforced by the report.
While capturing data on the front line is one enabler, the lack of effective data sharing, whether it’s within or between forces, or wider agencies, still limits the ability to build the evidence base that’s needed. This can only be achieved with effective interoperability across systems, which requires strong data standards for capturing and sharing of data to be ‘baked in’ from the very beginning when designing new capabilities. Interoperability is often deprioritised when project delivery budgets are under pressure, but the challenge of retrofitting data sharing mechanisms is such that it has led to a proliferation of siloed systems holding vital data that cannot be accessed effectively to support effective safeguarding and preventative actions.
Many of the organisations who would benefit most from increased data sharing in the fight against VAWG are those working in the third sector without the budgets and IT resources to develop the systems and processes needed for effective data sharing. There is a need for government investment to create mechanisms to share data effectively across these organisations and enable the assessment of interventions across each of the 4P pillars, identify best practice and ‘what works’.
In supporting White Ribbon UK and the Centre for Protecting Women Online in launching these findings and recommendations, Principle One is proud to endorse this work and to continue to champion White Ribbon UK’s wider agenda. Effective culture change requires trust, and a willingness to have difficult conversations rather than simply remaining silent. This week’s panel session has provided an opportunity to discuss these challenges openly, to bring together perspectives from within government, academia, industry and the third sector with a common purpose, but with much still to do.
To find out more about White Ribbon UK and how to get involved in White Ribbon Day, please visit White Ribbon UK.
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