Violence against women is a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales, police say | Violence against women and girls

An estimated two million women are victims of violence by men every year, in an epidemic so severe it constitutes a “national emergency”, police chiefs have warned.

Crimes such as stalking, harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence affect one in 12 women in England and Wales, with the number of recorded offences increasing by 37% in the last five years and perpetrators becoming younger.

The figures are contained in the first national analysis of the scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), published on Tuesday.

Police chiefs also warned of the “radicalisation” of young men online by influencers like Andrew Tate and called on tech companies to act more quickly to remove extremist content.

The report states: “We estimate that at least one in 12 women will experience violence against women and girls each year (2 million victims) and that one in 20 adults in England and Wales will perpetrate violence against women and girls each year (2.3 million perpetrators). These estimates are conservative because we know that many crimes go unreported and that in our policing we often only see the tip of the iceberg.”

This year, as horror grows at the scale of the crimes, the Guardian launched Killed Women Count, a project to record every woman allegedly killed by a man in 2024, whose stories often remain untold.

Keir Starmer, the new prime minister, has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within ten years, with taskforces in every police force including specialist domestic violence workers responding to 999 calls.

The NPCC report, which analysed official data, states:

• 20% of all crimes recorded by the police, or more than a million offences per year, are classified as violence against women and girls. These crimes include sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence and controlling and coercive behaviour. The report estimates that the actual number of these crimes is twice as high.

• Sexual abuse and exploitation of minors increased by more than 400% between 2013 and 2022. Offenses committed by minors increased to 55.6% of the total. The average age of victims is 13, with suspects averaging 15.

Maggie Blyth, National Police Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “Violence against women and girls is a national emergency. We need the support and direction of government to step in and address the current issues within the criminal justice system and lead the way in a comprehensive, systemic approach to violence against women and girls.

“We must move forward as a society to make changes and no longer accept violence against women and girls as inevitable.”

Louisa Rolfe, national lead for domestic violence and assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, said the true number of victims was likely to be even higher because many offences went unreported. “I think it’s more like 4 million,” she said.

Police say the increase is partly due to the spread of extreme content online. Rolfe said there has been an increase in non-fatal strangulation among young people, with men assuming it is normal sex without the woman’s consent, which she called “really scary.”

She added: “All academic research will tell you that the difference between non-fatal strangulation and fatal strangulation is millibars of pressure.”

Blyth said the police counter-terrorism command and those working to combat violence against women and girls were discussing the influence of influencers and how to counter it. “We know that this is also partly linked to the radicalisation of young people online… we know the influencers, Andrew Tate. The influence element, particularly on boys, is quite terrifying,” she said.

“Misogyny is inherent in certain ways of working that are at the root of these types of crimes, of the growth of boys and their resort to violence. That’s why the online threat is so important to us.”

Other data shows that the fastest growing groups of perpetrators and victims of domestic violence are those aged 16 to 19.

Police privately say delays in domestic violence prosecutions mean most victims withdraw their support for prosecutions after seven days.

Blyth said the justice system is a problem: “We don’t think it’s working… We know there are significant delays in the justice system. We know that victims are waiting far too long to get a criminal justice decision. And we know that some victims are failing in that process.”

The spotlight on violence against women and girls has intensified following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021 by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, who had already been investigated for indecent exposure. An official report found widespread failings and the second part of the inquiry, due next year, is also expected to be damning.

The police now believe violence against women and girls should be treated with the same seriousness as terrorism. They are setting up a national centre to improve outcomes, with 43 police forces across the UK taking a variety of approaches. They are promising better training and say the reforms are already bringing more offenders to justice.

Harriet Wistrich of the Center for Women’s Justice said: “The [NPCC] The report makes little mention of the problem of police officers perpetrating violence against women and girls, which – following the recent revelation of the scale and nature of the problem – has significantly undermined victims’ trust in the police.

“It also fails to address head-on the problem of the criminalisation of victims of violence, which, in addition to being an affront to justice, constitutes a huge waste of resources for the criminal justice system.”

Clare Kelly, deputy director of policy at the NSPCC, said: “Tech companies must… take action to prevent boys from being targeted by vile misogynistic content and put in place safeguards to prevent grooming and sexual abuse from proliferating on their platforms.

“Schools also need support to deliver effective, quality, inclusive and relevant sex and relationships education to build a culture where girls are safe, heard and empowered and where healthy relationships thrive.”

Civil Protection Minister Jess Phillips said: “The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this government will treat it as the national emergency that it is.”