Oral Evidence Review on the Government's Efforts to tack Violence Against Women and Girls

On Monday 17 March, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held an oral evidence review session, inquiring the Government's efforts to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The session was held following a report published by the National Audit Office , which found that VAWG is still a significant problem affecting 1 in 12 women.

The report raised the need for an effective cross-government response and a review of the existing evidence base to build the foundations of their next strategy. Within their report it was recommended that continuous evaluation is necessary for the focus to be maintained, so that the approach can be adapted to benefit from the insight of local innovation.

The NAO’s overarching recommendations to the Government included the need to establish a shared vision for how the Government will meet its target, strengthened accountability for delivering the target, and integrated learning and evaluation through the new strategy.

The first panel of the PAC oral evidence heard from expert witnesses Nicole Jacobs DBE, Domestic Abuse Commissioner England and Wales, Professor Katrin Hohl – Independent advisor and Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at City St George’s University of London and Farah Nazeer – Chief Executive Officer at Women’s Aid.

Whilst the speakers recognised that there has been progress within this space in terms of the establishment of the Domestic Abuse Act and awareness raising, there are many areas where focus needs to be made.

Key points included:

Funding needs to be sustainable and accessible for support services. Refuges are increasingly strained and are often unequipped to meet the different needs presented by women and girls requiring their services.

Data needs to be end-to-end to provide a complete understanding of the scope of VAWG and to accurately review what methods for improvement are working.

A coordinated response is essential. Many services act as an initial point of contact for victims and survivors. A cross-departmental understanding of best practices is needed, along with training to recognise coercion and control.

There needs to be more focus on prevention. Rhetoric and efforts focus on victims and response, rather than offenders and intercepting abuse.

The second panel included the following representatives from the Home Office; Sir Matthew Rycroft – Permanent Secretary at Home Office, Richard Clarke – Director General, Safer Streets at Home Office, Justin Russell – Director General for Families at Department for Education, Emma Payne – Director for Social Housing at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Talitha Rowland – Director for Security and Online Harms at Department of Science Innovation and Technology.

The representatives discussed the measures that will be undertaken to support their ongoing commitment to halve the number of cases of VAWG as part of Labour’s Safer Streets mission. They intend to achieve this through data-driven policy while also incorporating qualitative evidence from victims and survivors.

One of the tech challenges highlighted is that the absence of joined-up data that is the most significant barrier to delivery.

The panel sessions reiterated the report’s findings that although the Home Office leads the Government’s work to address VAWG, many other parts of Government need to be involved to achieve real progress.

Ella Gago-Brookes

Junior Programme Manager - Justice and Emergency Services, techUK

Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes, before progressing into Junior Programme Manager in January 2024.

Before joining the team, she was working at the Magistrates' Courts in legal administration and graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2022. Ella attained an undergraduate degree in History and Politics, and a master's degree in International Relations and Security Studies, with a particular interest in studying asylum rights and gendered violence.

In her spare time she enjoys going to the gym, watching true crime documentaries, travelling, and making her best attempts to become a better cook.

Email:: [email protected]

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