National Audit Office: Government’s efforts to address violence against women and girls have not yet improved outcomes for victims

Violence against women and girls is a significant problem that affects at least one in twelve women every year, but efforts by the Home Office and other government departments to address the issue in recent years have not led to improved outcomes for the victims of these crimes or the safety of women and girls more widely, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.  

The Home Office introduced the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls strategy (the VAWG Strategy) in 2021, the third such strategy since 2010, and published the Domestic Abuse Plan in 2022. However, the Home Office does not know what effect government's work has had on VAWG. The prevalence of sexual assault was higher in 2023-24 than 2009-10, while the prevalence of domestic abuse was lower.   

The NAO's report states that, the Home Office has not led an effective cross-government response, in an area which requires the coordinated effort and commitment of many government departments. The Home Office was the lead department for the 2021 strategy, but it found it challenging to get buy-in from other government departments.  

Additionally, the Home Office has had a limited understanding of the full extent of resources devoted to addressing VAWG across government, which affected its ability to prioritise efforts. It does not know what impact the government's work has had and therefore cannot be confident that the government departments have done the best they can to keep women and girls safe.  

While 78% of the 126 commitments from the VAWG Strategy and Domestic Abuse Plan had been met by July 2024, several of these were not new, and many were activities such as holding meetings or publishing guidance. In July 2024 there were 25 commitments still to deliver - the Home Office originally planned to implement all commitments by December 2024 but has been behind schedule since the beginning of the VAWG Strategy.   

The Home Office made little progress developing measures to prevent VAWG and deliver long-term cultural and societal change, a key commitment in both the VAWG Strategy and Domestic Abuse Plan. Most prevention activities to date have focused on reducing reoffending rather than avoiding initial offences.  

The government has a limited understanding of what works in preventing VAWG. Since 2021-22, the Home Office has spent at least £4.2 million on research into what works, but the projects funded have yet to provide significant insights to inform any future interventions.    

The new government has committed to halve VAWG within a decade as part of its ‘mission' to make streets safer. The Home Office is leading this mission and developing a new VAWG strategy, due in spring 2025.  

Meeting the government's ambition will require strong cross-government leadership from the Home Office, supported by effective accountability to ensure all departments are pulling in the same direction. The Home Office will also need to review the existing evidence base to provide a firm foundation from which to develop the next strategy. 

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said:  

“Government's efforts to tackle violence against women and girls have not yet improved outcomes for the victims of these crimes. The lack of an effective, cross-government approach and a limited understanding of what works to help reduce these crimes, means the Home Office cannot be confident that government is doing the best it can to keep women and girls safe. 
 
“The new government has set an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade. A well-informed and effectively implemented cross-government response is needed, that addresses both the causes and the consequences of these crimes.”

Notes to Editors: 

1. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website. Hard copies can be obtained by using the relevant links on our website. 

1. Scope of the report: The new government has committed to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls within a decade as part of its safer streets mission. The Home Office will lead this mission and is developing a new VAWG strategy. In this report, we have examined the Home Office's leadership of the 2021 “Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls” Strategy (the VAWG Strategy) and the 2022 “Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan” (the Domestic Abuse Plan), to identify lessons to support the delivery of the government's ambition to halve violence against women and girls.  

1. In 2021, the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (the VAWG Strategy) outlined a series of commitments focused on: 

- prevention - to deliver long-term cultural and societal change; 

- supporting victims - to increase support for victims and survivors including providing support services that are run by and for the communities they serve; 

- pursuing perpetrators - to transform the criminal justice response to ensure all perpetrators of offences against women are brought to justice, and 

- developing a stronger system - working with multiple government departments to develop a joined-up system across health, justice, law enforcement, housing, social care and education.

1. If you, or someone you know, have been affected by any of the issues raised in this report, we have provided a list of organisations and services that are available to offer support at the end of this report.