Violence Against Women And Girls Rises Despite Labour Manifesto Pledge

[IwantToRetire]

The Labour government is on a mission to halve violence against women and girls (Vawg) in the next 10 years – one of its most ambitious manifesto policies at the last general election. Yet a data investigation by The House has revealed that since 2024 Vawg has actually increased in the UK – despite a downward trend before that.

There were eight per cent more sexual offences in the UK in 2025 than in 2024, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, with stalking and harassment and domestic abuse also increasing. Although the Home Office tells The House that an increase in reporting to the police does not necessarily mean that Vawg has also risen, the self-completion Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) also shows some metrics increasing.

If there is a link between Labour’s work on tackling Vawg and an increase in reporting, it could be seen as a testament to the success of initiatives like Raneem’s Law, named after a woman who was murdered by her ex-husband in 2018, which was spearheaded in 2025 by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper. It placed domestic abuse specialists in nearly 1,000 control rooms across five police forces, aiming to increase specialist support for victims and improve emergency responses.

Quite a long article at https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/violence-against-women-and-girls-rises-despite-key-labour-pledge

Bump

I didn't have time to read this properly late last night, but wondered if the increase is in fact in line with the increase in population.

Yes, per capita data is more useful.

But I always thought that pledging to half violence against women and girls was an odd pledge. Pledging to focus resources on VAWG, or prioritise reducing VAWG in policy decisions makes sense. But since any attempt to do that could easily result in higher reporting figures it would backfire. The quickest way to reduce reports of VAWG is to discourage reporting and recording.

The best indicator would be the per capita murder rate, especially the DV related murders. They are only the tip of the iceberg for VAWG but they are harder to underreport so might be a better indicator for what's actually happening and if their policies are working. But you would want several years worth of data.

Met cuts harm against women by London’s most dangerous men by more than half

New research published today shows the Met’s approach to targeting London’s worst perpetrators of violence against women and girls (VAWG) has cut the harm committed by them by more than half.

https://news.met.police.uk/news/met-cuts-harm-against-women-by-londons-most-dangerous-men-by-more-than-half-510429