Responding to the NPCC report calling violence against women and girls a ‘national threat’, Sophie Francis-Cansfield, Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid, said: 

“While the findings of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College into the scale of violence against women and girls in this country are alarming, it is important to remember that many survivors will not report their experiences to the police. The issue will, therefore, be much larger than the data shows. 

Women’s Aid agree that violence against women and girls is a national threat, and echoes calls for a whole-system approach to tackling the problem and centring the most marginalised. This includes coordination between the criminal justice system, the government and experts, and enhanced training and education, delivered by specialist services, to those working in statutory services like the police. Without meaningful collaboration and action, women and children will continue to be failed when it comes to being protected and when seeking justice for the abuse they have endured.”