Tackling violence against women and girls will be added to the
strategic policing requirement (SPR), the Home Secretary is
expected to announce this week. This will make it a national
priority for forces alongside terrorism, serious and organised
crime and child sexual abuse.
The Requirement set by the Home Secretary, provides clear
direction to policing and highlights where police forces need to
work together, using their local and regional capabilities, to
protect the public. The revised SPR is due to be published in the
coming months.
Chief Constables must have regard to the SPR when carrying out
their jobs, as must Police and Crime Commissioners in their
policing plans. It focuses on the key areas a police force
is expected to deliver on, outlining the required policing
capabilities to respond to threats and providing detail on
relevant national standards, collaboration and partnership
working.
The move comes as the Government is expected to respond to Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services’ inspection of the police’s response to tackling
violence against women and girls. The inspection was commissioned
by the Home Secretary last year to help and strengthen the
response of the police to tackle these awful crimes and to
improve women’s safety.
As part of the Government’s Tackling Violence Against Women and
Girls Strategy published in July 2021, the Home Secretary
appointed a new national policing lead, DCC Maggie Blyth, to
drive improvements across forces in how these crimes are dealt
with. Her role includes the coordination of policing efforts and
she has led the publication of the National Police Chiefs’
Council’s national framework for delivery of the police’s
strategy in response to the issue.
Home Secretary said:
“The safety of women and girls is an absolute priority and I do
not accept that violence against them is inevitable.
“That is why last year I commissioned an inspection into the
police’s response to tackling crimes disproportionately impacting
women and girls. The report made for difficult reading, but made
a number of suggestions for how government, the police and others
can and must do better.
“I am pleased to be accepting its major recommendation – to
make tackling violence against women and girls a strategic
policing requirement – meaning this will now be a national
priority for every single police force in England and Wales. I
will be working closely with our new national policing lead for
keeping women and girls safe – DCC Maggie Blyth – on this change
to ensure it is implemented quickly and efficiently.”
This significant change to the Strategic Policing Requirement
comes as the Government is expected to deliver on another key
commitment from the Strategy.
The first strand of the Government’s new communication campaign
is set to launch next week, focused on targeting and challenging
perpetrators and harmful attitudes. Television adverts,
billboards, social media and radio advertising will highlight a
series of different forms of violence against women and girls,
and the simple acts that anyone can take to challenge
perpetrators of abuse.
The Government has already delivered on key elements of the
Strategy to make women and girls feel safer on the streets,
online and at home. These include investing a further £25 million
in the Safer Streets Fund for measures to ensure women and girls
feel safe in public spaces. These include projects like
anti-spiking kits, training for venues, bystander training and
other educational initiatives to change behaviours and attitudes.
The Government has also piloted an online tool, StreetSafe, which
enables the public to anonymously report areas where they feel
unsafe.
In addition, through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts
Bill, the Government is introducing a Serious Violence Duty which
will require public bodies to work together to tackle serious
violence - the Government has amended the Bill to make clear that
this can include domestic abuse and sexual offences.
