New measure to track pledge to halve violence against women and girls

A caller instrumentality for monitoring unit against women and girls (VAWG) has drawn a mixed absorption from campaigners arsenic the authorities seeks to halve its levels wrong the adjacent decade.

The Office for National Statistics's (ONS) caller combined estimation of the prevalence of home abuse, intersexual battle and stalking successful England and Wales volition beryllium utilized arsenic the main measurement for assessing Labour's landmark goal.

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Experts and MPs told Sky News that it was a "welcome sign" ministers are taking the manifesto pledge seriously.

But determination is interest it doesn't seizure each crimes that impact women, including femicide and online misogyny, with the End Violence Against Women conjugation suggesting the caller metric has been created "for the easiness of government".

According to caller ONS estimates published connected Thursday, astir 1 successful 8 women aged 16 and implicit successful England and Wales were victims of home abuse, intersexual battle oregon stalking successful the twelvemonth to March.

It is the archetypal clip an estimation has been made of the combined prevalence of home abuse, intersexual battle and stalking.

The figures usage information collected arsenic portion of the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Labour MP Jess Asato, who antecedently worked for home maltreatment foundation Safelives, told Sky News this is the "best way" to measurement VAWG arsenic not each victims study transgression truthful constabulary figures "don't springiness a presumption of the existent prevalence".

"This is simply a truly bully motion the authorities is taking this ngo precise seriously," she said.

Ms Asato has precocious urged the authorities to prohibition "nudification apps", which usage artificial intelligence to make fake nude images of radical without their consent.

The Lowesoft MP said the tools "disproportionately affects girls" and should beryllium seen for what they are - "a instrumentality for facilitating integer intersexual assault".

It comes amid mounting interest astir online misogyny, with MPs warned earlier this summertime that deepfake pornography is the adjacent intersexual unit epidemic facing schools.

Meanwhile Clare Moody, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Joint Lead connected Victims and VAWG, wrote an nonfiction for Policing Insight contiguous successful which she said called tackling VAWG "one of the large societal issues of our time... peculiarly successful a integer epoch with societal media and the online satellite fuelling truthful overmuch misogyny and antheral unit towards women".

'Created for authorities ease'

Rebecca Hitchen, Head of Policy and Campaigns astatine End Violence Against Women (EVAW), warned the information being utilized to measure the government's extremity fails to seizure the afloat standard of incidents affecting women.

The government's ain explanation of VAWG includes online crimes specified arsenic revenge porn and upskirting, arsenic good arsenic honour-based maltreatment and pistillate genital mutilation.

Ms Hitchen said."Our interest is that this measurement has been created for the easiness of government, alternatively than trying to genuinely correspond the standard and interaction of unit against women and girls.

"Questions indispensable beryllium asked astir the grade to which this measurement whitethorn interaction connected backing decisions, arsenic the government's prime to measure itself connected this ground whitethorn dictate the absorption of resources."

EVAW are present calling for a consultation to unfastened truthful that women's groups tin sermon with the authorities however champion to measurement its commitment.

Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged that they would "halve unit against women and girls successful a decade" by utilizing "every authorities instrumentality disposable to people perpetrators and code the basal causes of maltreatment and violence".

A fig of policies person since been announced to tackle what Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called a "national emergency".

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More details astir the VAWG strategy and however its advancement volition beryllium monitored volition beryllium acceptable retired successful September.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "As portion of our ngo to tackle the nationalist exigency of Violence Against Women and Girls, we person made definite that for the archetypal clip the figures are being recorded successful a combined way, showing that 1 successful 8 women were victims of home abuse, stalking oregon intersexual battle past year.

"That is wherefore we person already started to enactment home maltreatment specialists successful 999 power rooms, invested successful large caller perpetrator programmes, and wherefore we are publishing a transformative cross-government VAWG strategy successful September, due to the fact that everybody has a close to consciousness harmless connected our streets."