Repeat perpetrators driving VAWG offences

[IwantToRetire]

A major national assessment has reaffirmed violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a national emergency.

The assessment finds that domestic abuse remains the most significant threat, accounting for 65% of all VAWG-related offences. And more than half of recorded rape and serious sexual assault offences are committed by a current or former partner, highlighting the devastating impact of abuse within intimate relationships.

It also highlights the growing nature of repeat abuse, with the most common age groups identified as 15-19 and 30-49. Among 15-19-year-olds, harmful behaviour can be linked to factors such as online influences, peer dynamics and unmet needs associated with vulnerability factors including prior experiences of abuse. The older age group is more consistent with patterns of repeat domestic abuse.
These findings underline the importance of identifying patterns of harmful behaviour and intervening earlier to prevent future harm.

The STRA also highlights that technology is rapidly reshaping the threat landscape. Online abuse, sexual extortion, image-based abuse, and emerging AI-enabled harms are increasingly intertwined with offending in the physical world, creating new challenges for policing, safeguarding agencies, and technology providers.

One of the most significant findings is the scale of harmful behaviour occurring between children, often influenced by online environments, peer norms and harmful content. While offences committed by children can cause significant harm and will be taken seriously, the assessment highlights the importance of recognising that some child perpetrators may also have experienced vulnerability, trauma or abuse themselves. Police and partner responses should therefore be proportionate, safeguarding-led and focused on both accountability and early intervention to reduce future harm.

NB extracts only - full statement here https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/repeat-perpetrators-found-to-drive-significant-violence-against-women-and-girls-national-assessment-reveals

Findings report https://www.vkpp.org.uk/assets/STRA-2026/NCVPP-VAWG-PP-STRA-2026.pdf

The phenomenon of violence perpetrated by boys on girls is totally depressing.
Is this scale a totally new thing?

Is it saying that repeat perpetrators are abusing the same woman, or are they doing it to others as they get into new “relationships” ? Either way women and girls need to be on high alert.

Yes that is worth knowing.

I suspect they mean the same woman. But maybe wrong.

But you would hope it would reflect whether men are establishing new relationships and then continuing their abusive behaviour with another women.

Even with Clare's Law there are so many reasons why a woman (assuming she even knows it exists) wouldn't ask.

There is such an established path of a man appearing kind and considerate, and only once a relationship is established to then show his true, violent self.

Thank you for sharing.
We need a new message. No one cares women are hurt, raped and mentally tortured. And now it's happening earlier to our girls.

Repeat offenders are costing the tax payer a fortune. It should be everyone's business.

Has anyone ever done any cost analysis?

Laura Richards (Crime Analyst) said it's something like £3 million to investigate a homicide. Given a woman who is strangled by her partner is 8x more likely to be a victim of femicide that's a lot of money.

This if from last year.

https://www.wbg.org.uk/article/sexual-violence-and-abuse-costs-england-and-wales-over-400-billion-new-research-reveals/

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust Responds to the NCVPP’s Strategic Threat and Risk Assessment

... while previously stalking was recognised among the core critical threats driving national policing priorities, stalking has now been removed as a standalone Critical Threat Area. Despite acknowledging that stalking and harassment remain the highest volume VAWG crime category, stalking has been absorbed into domestic abuse, digital enablers and repeat offending.

Moving stalking from a headline critical threat to a cross-cutting symptom runs the risk of reinforcing the myth that stalking is merely an extension of domestic abuse, leaving the considerable numbers of victims targeted by acquaintances, colleagues or strangers invisible in strategic planning. In addition, while the STRA champions Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Operation Soteria, Stalking Protection Orders and specialist interventions go unmentioned.

Another risk is the conflation of stalking and harassment. The stalking super complaint evidenced that stalking is routinely mis-recorded as harassment, and as the STRA does not differentiate between the two, this could lead to further confusion and mis-identification.

Full press release https://www.suzylamplugh.org/news/strategic-threat-and-risk-assessment-2026