London Mayor unveils refreshed VAWG strategy and announces £18m in new investment to help keep women and girls safe
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A new plan that champions a public health approach to ending
violence against women and girls has been unveiled today by the
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan on a visit to Waltham Forest. While
there the Mayor met a beautician and visited a dry cleaners and
library to see first-hand the training and education being
delivered to men about VAWG to help them become more active allies.
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A new plan that champions a public health approach to ending violence against women and girls has been unveiled today by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan on a visit to Waltham Forest. While there the Mayor met a beautician and visited a dry cleaners and library to see first-hand the training and education being delivered to men about VAWG to help them become more active allies. Cafes, libraries, dry cleaners, pubs, beauticians, gyms and other everyday venues across London are being encouraged to be part of the Mayor’s ‘whole society’ approach to tackling violence against women and girls. The holistic approach will see close to £18m of additional investment from City Hall on specialist services to improve support for victims and survivors, tackle the behaviour of perpetrators and better educate the public on the help they can provide. The Mayor’s newly refreshed strategy recognises that more robust policing or the threat of the criminal justice system alone cannot prevent violence against women and girls. A more innovative approach is needed - one that seeks to understand the underlying drivers of harassment, abuse or violence against women and girls and brings public sector agencies together with communities to address them. Sadiq’s new strategy will adopt a public health approach – similar to the one pioneered by the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit - to preventing and reducing violence against women and girls. It will:
As part of the Mayor’s new plan, local authorities, the NHS, night-time venues, high street shops, Transport for London and the transport industry, universities, the police and the criminal justice system will work more closely with support services tackling VAWG to spot the signs and intervene earlier as part of the Mayor’s whole society approach to effectively tackling violence against women and girls. High street venues across London, including dry cleaners, beauticians and cafes are being urged to sign up to become information points so that victims of violence or those at risk can be directed to support services safely, quickly and discreetly. Civic settings such as libraries are also being encouraged to become disclosure settings where women and girls can seek specialist help. City Hall will also convene a round table discussion next month with partners to determine how the NHS and wider health sector can better tackle VAWG collectively in the capital.2 Sadiq has today also committed an additional £17.7m on top of a previous £100m to continue the provision of specialist support services across London. This will ensure better help and support for all victims of VAWG including migrant victims and those from minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and other marginalised groups.
The Mayor has overseen more than £100m in investment in tackling violence against women and girls since he was first elected. This funding is working to save lives, address waiting lists and keep doors open for vital specialist support services for victims. It is also helping to make venues, transport and public spaces in the capital safer for women at night, 1 but it is clear more needs to be done. Shockingly, a man kills a woman every three days in the UK, with a quarter of women reporting having been a victim of sexual assault, and 71 per cent of all women have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space. The Mayor is adamant that we must not simply respond to male violence against women and girls – we must prevent it. That means focusing on holding the perpetrators of abuse accountable for their actions and for change. Across London, night-time venues, universities and restaurants are joining the Mayor’s acclaimed ‘have a word’ campaign3 urging men to call out and reject sexism and misogyny, which if left unchecked or unchallenged can lead to abuse and violence towards women and girls. McDonalds, The Roundhouse, Ministry of Sound, the O2, University of Greenwich, and University of London are among leading venues across the capital joining the campaign to push the message that: “Male violence against women and girls starts with words. If you see it happening, have a word with yourself, then your mates” to millions of Londoners after football clubs helped launch the campaign to tackle the appalling attitudes and behaviours that need to change. Partners will help get this message directly to men through messages on mirrors in men’s bathrooms and spaces, encouraging all men to ‘have a word’ with themselves and then their mates.
The ‘have a word’ campaign video has now been viewed more than
14m times, with 65 per cent of the social engagement by
men. Since its launch, the campaign has generated
global interest and was recently shortlisted for the prestigious
Cannes Lion Glass award for change, celebrating culture-shifting
creativity. Campaign polling has also shown men who have seen the
campaign are more likely to help tackle the issue – 85% of men
who have heard of the campaign said they would call out bad
behaviour if they saw it.3The campaign complements the
campaign running across TfL’s public transport network which aims
to send a strong message to offenders that sexual harassment will
not be tolerated. The Mayor is also investing in programmes that are focused on addressing and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of abuse. This includes programmes which deal with the behaviour of those perpetrating domestic abuse, or stalking, as well as launching the first-ever GPS tagging pilot 4 of domestic abuse offenders to quickly identify those who break their license conditions, helping to protect victims and crucially putting the onus on perpetrators to change their behaviour, rather than victims. The strategy unveiled today also recognises far that too many victims fail to get the justice that they deserve with too many cases falling out of the system before they reach court. The Mayor is clear there must be improvements across all criminal justice services to improve trust and confidence in the policing and prosecution of VAWG. His strategy will therefore see enhanced partnership working with the Met to improve the systems, training of officers – particularly around domestic abuse and rape misconceptions - as well as renewed action to improve the overall culture of policing VAWG to support victims to come forward and ensure they are treated with care respect throughout the criminal justice process in support of better justice outcomes. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “In my manifesto for re-election I pledged to do everything in my power to keep the women and girls in our city safe. I recognised that the approach we had taken on for so long – which focused on support for victims but not the behaviour of offenders – urgently needed to be reviewed. “That’s why I’m proud to present my refreshed strategy for tackling violence against women and girls which adopts a public health approach to ending the scourge of VAWG on our capital. “The epidemic of violence is a crisis which should shame us all which is why I’m uniting with partners across London to not only provide support to women and girls but to help educate and inform all Londoners, especially men, about the danger posed by misogynistic attitudes and behaviours.
“Change will not happen overnight but I believe that together we can help to stop the men who wish to do women harm and drive forward a lasting change in our society’s culture so that women and girls can finally live their lives free from fear, harassment or abuse.” Claire Waxman OBE, Victims’ Commissioner for London, said: “I welcome this ambitious new strategy, which has looked right across society at the myriad ways violence against women and girls can manifest and takes a public health approach to breaking the cycles of abuse and violence. “It is painfully clear that many women and girls in London have lost confidence in our justice system. I have personally spoken to many women and girls who felt disbelieved and dismissed by the police or unable to find the right support, so I am pleased to see a focus on rebuilding trust and confidence and the exploration of new support measures such as independent legal support for rape victims. “Any policy relating to victims should be grounded in real, lived experiences and I was pleased to lead a survivor consultation to inform this strategy. This survivor consultation prioritised groups who are too often underrepresented and overlooked, including Black women and those impacted by so-called ‘honour-based’ abuse. These women directly shaped commitments in the strategy, including the development of community touch points to give women more options to safely disclose and access support.”
Martin Griffiths, Clinical Director for Violence
Reduction Network NHS London and Consultant Trauma and Vascular
Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust said: “The
Mayoral VAWG strategy marks a step change in the understanding
and prevention of violence against women and girls in London. The
NHS in London is an agent for change, playing a key role in the
commissioning of Sexual Assault Referral Services, and services
for victims of stalking. Working in partnership to support a
public health approach the NHS will ensure that the obligation to
build a fairer society for women and girls sits with us all.”
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, who leads on the
Met’s response to violence against women and girls,
said: “I’m grateful for the support of the Mayor
and MOPAC as we improve the Met’s response to violence against
women and girls (VAWG). This is a huge priority for
us. We have set out our own ambitious plans to
rebuild trust and to tackle VAWG. The Mayor’s plan will help
ensure our improvement activity is subject to rigorous scrutiny
but also actively supported. I’m pleased to see the Mayor’s
broad focus across health, education, housing, social care and
the wider justice system to ensure other agencies actively
support this work. City Hall has a crucial role in commissioning
victim services and we will be working together, alongside other
partners, to make sure victims receive the best support.” Councillor Jas Athwal, London Councils’ Executive member for Community Safety and Violence against Women and Girls, said: “To truly make London a safe place for all women and girls we need to take every opportunity to address the deeply damaging issue of violence against women and girls and co-ordinate our efforts across the city. “London boroughs are key partners in tackling violence against women and girls, especially via prevention and domestic abuse support services. We are committed to working with our local communities and businesses and the Mayor and the Met Police in order to champion, empower and protect women and girls.
“This strategy is a positive framework for joining up our work
and focussing energy where it can have the biggest impact. The
public health approach and inclusion of tackling perpetrators is
particularly welcome.” “I do not accept that violence against women and girls is inevitable. This public health approach zeros in on the attitudes that make it possible.
“Across the length and breadth of Waltham Forest, I have
faith that our residents’ will meet this challenge head on and
make violence against women and girls a thing of the past.” Elizabeth Jiménez-Yáñez, Coordinator, Step Up Migrant Women Campaign, said: “We welcome the publication of the Mayor’s refreshed VAWG strategy, which recognises the diverse, particular and intersectional needs of victims and survivors in London, including migrant women. This strategy is a step forward in improving the response that women exposed to this form of gender-based abuse urgently need. “By understanding and recognising the barriers that prevent migrant women from rebuilding their lives free from abuse, the strategy sets out a plan of action to ensure pathways to safety are available for them without discrimination. This plan includes access to tailored support that is best provided by specialist led by and for organisations, and the critical role interpreters play. “We are particularly pleased to see the Mayor’s aim to establish safe reporting mechanisms and access to support for all victims in London. Furthermore, we welcome the Mayor’s commitment to continuing the advocacy for establishing a firewall. Guaranteeing safe routes for reporting this crime and access support is critical to tackling VAWG and sending a clear message that abusing migrant women is unacceptable in London.”
“This strategy shifts the conversation around violence against women and girls as well as removing barriers that prevent survivors from accessing support from our public and charity sector partners.” “Our libraries represent a safe space for survivors to disclose free of judgement or suspicion, with all our library staff receiving specialist training to ensure survivors are linked into specialist support as quickly as possible.” Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition: “We welcome the new strategy, which we hope will see commitments translated into action that makes a tangible difference in women and girls’ lives. “Violence against women is not inevitable and we’re particularly pleased to see the Mayor commit to adopting the principles of the Istanbul Convention, which puts prevention at the heart of all work to end male violence against women. Preventing women and girls from becoming victims in the first place will always be the best way to address this abuse, which is why we welcome long term attention to work with young people in schools and to shifting public attitudes and behaviour through communications work like the Have a word campaign. “We also welcome the strategy’s commitment to ensuring all victims’ rights and needs are met, including migrant women, where more needs to be done to ensure safe reporting pathways for victims and survivors to report abuse without fear of being detained or removed from the UK. “Demand for specialist women's services in London has massively increased as a result of the Covid pandemic and will be significantly impacted by the cost of living crisis. It is therefore vital that this strategy provides sustainable funding for the lifesaving specialist services women rely on, including those run by and for Black and minoritised women, Deaf and disabled and other marginalised survivors of violence and abuse." Notes to editors:
List of football and rugby clubs featuring mirror images of ‘have a word’ campaign: Arsenal (Premiership) Crystal Palace (Premiership) Chelsea (Premiership) West Ham (Premiership) QPR (Premiership)
Saracens (Premiership Rugby) Bromley FC (National League) List of football and rugby clubs that featured matchday programme material of ‘have a word’ campaign: Arsenal (Premiership) Brentford (Premiership) Chelsea (Premiership) Crystal Palace (Premiership) Tottenham Hotspur (Premiership) Watford (Premiership) West Ham United (Premiership) Fulham (Championship) Millwall (Championship) Queens Park Rangers (Championship) Charlton Athletic (League One) Leyton Orient (League Two) Barnet (National League) Bromley (National League) Dagenham & Redbridge (National League) Wealdstone (National League) Harlequins (Premiership Rugby) Saracens (Premiership Rugby)
The Mayor is encouraging all local authorities across London to support everyday high street venues such as cafes, libraries, beauticians and gyms to be a part of the Mayor’s new whole society approach to tackling violence against women and girls by providing information, leaflets and training to become information points and disclosure settings.
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