Prime Minister to chair meeting of Crime And Justice Taskforce to discuss violence against women and girls

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today (Monday) chair a meeting of the government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce to discuss further steps to protect women and girls and make sure our streets are safe.

The meeting will be attended by ministers, senior police officers and representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service.

Ahead of the meeting the Prime Minister said:

“Like everyone who saw it I was deeply concerned about the footage from Clapham Common on Saturday night.

“I have spoken with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who has committed to reviewing how this was handled and the Home Secretary has also commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a lessons learned review in to the policing of the event.

“Tomorrow I will chair a meeting of the Government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce to look at what further action we need to take to protect women and ensure our streets are safe.

“The death of Sarah Everard must unite us in determination to drive out violence against women and girls and make every part of the criminal justice system work to protect and defend them.”

On the agenda for today’s meeting will be:

• The strategy on Violence against Women and Girls

It is right that we listen to the powerful experiences of people across the country which is why we reopened our survey to inform this work. Since it launched again on Friday evening it has already had 53,000 responses.

• Government work on securing Safer Streets

We are already working with forces on local schemes, backed up by £25m, to help prevent crime, such as increased street lighting and CCTV. We will look at how this work can further help to make the streets safer for women.

• Rape prosecutions and the Criminal Justice System

We are conducting an in-depth review into the criminal justice system from end to end when it comes to rape and sexual assault. Every part of the criminal justice system has to play its role in bringing perpetrators to justice and better supporting victims.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

“With Sarah and her family in my thoughts and prayers, I will continue to do all I can in my role as Home Secretary to protect women and girls.

“Everyone should be free to walk our streets without fear of harassment, abuse or violence.

“The Home Office survey on tackling violence against women and girls has received an unprecedented 53,000 responses since it reopened on Friday and I’d urge everyone to give us their views.”

Notes to Editors

• The Prime Minister spoke with Commissioner Dick yesterday morning about the policing of the vigil on Clapham Common.

• Among those expected to attend the meeting will be Home Secretary Priti Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, DPP Max Hill QC and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.

• This Government also continues to take action to ensure women feel safe to walk on our streets without fear of harassment or violence, and to improve the support for victims of these crimes. This includes:
  • Recruiting 20,000 extra police officers over the next three years.
  • Carrying out an end-to-end Rape Review looking at how every stage of the criminal justice system handles rape cases from police report to the final outcome at court.
  • Investing a further £85 million in the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure it is equipped to deal with the cases brought by the police.
  • Our landmark Domestic Abuse Bill will soon become law and will also introduce a new offence of non-fatal strangulation, strengthen legislation around controlling or coercive behaviour and widen revenge porn laws to include threats to disclose intimate images with the intention to cause distress. It will also provide for new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, which will prevent perpetrators from contacting their victims, as well as force them to take positive steps to change their behaviour, such as mental health support.
  • We are currently working with law enforcement agencies, charities and women’s groups to develop a new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which will be published later this year. This will help us to better target perpetrators and support victims of these crimes, and increase our ability to tackle, new and emerging forms of violence against women and girls - such as upskirting and revenge porn.
  • Last year, we launched the UK’s first ever public survey on tackling violence against women and girls
  • The Police Crime and Sentencing bill increases the minimum sentence that serious and violent offenders serve in prison. We are also making changes to sexual harm prevention orders and sexual risk orders to help police manage sexual offenders.