UK takes ‘whole-of-government’ approach to tackling violence against women and girls in landmark strategy
The UK government has published its much-anticipated strategy on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), setting out what prime minister Keir Starmer called a “whole-of government, whole-of-society effort” to halve VAWG in a decade.
The 91-page policy paper Freedom from violence and abuse: A cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls, was published in December along with an accompanying action plan.
The strategy includes more than £1bn (US$1.3bn) in investment and is built on three core objectives: prevention and early intervention to address the root causes of abuse; the “relentless pursuit” of perpetrators; and support for victims and survivors.
It focuses on education and awareness building among men and boys and a “commitment to long-term societal change”, and is backed up by governance and accountability mechanisms, monitoring, and work to fill evidence gaps.
Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, described the strategy as a “decade-long ambition [that] must go beyond the silos of government departments, individual budgets, and short-term spending cycles” and said that to achieve it there must be “sustained, cross-government commitment and shared accountability that transcends political timelines”.
It is Starmer’s “personal commitment to lead this national endeavour from the very top of government and on behalf of the whole country”, the paper states. Starmer worked with victims of VAWG and their families in his previous role as director of public prosecutions, the UK’s chief prosecutor.
Starmer said the strategy had been co-created with victims and their families and is as a result “intentionally different from traditional government publications”. It was also informed by frontline service leaders, academics, and experts in health, education, criminal justice and other sectors, and borrows approaches from countries such as Australia, Canada, the US and Spain.
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National emergency: ‘alarming levels’ of violence and abuse
In the paper, the government declares VAWG a “national and international emergency”, and Alex Davies-Jones, minister for victims and tackling violence against women and girls, described ending it as “one of the most critical challenges of our time”.
The strategy highlights that one in eight women in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the year ending March 2025; that on average almost 200 rapes were recorded by the police every day in the year ending June 2025; and that more than 150 women in England and Wales are killed every year.
It also highlights that there are “alarming levels” of violence and abuse in teenage relationships: 39% of 13 to 17 year olds who have been in a relationship in the past year report experiencing emotional or physical abuse.
Challenging misogyny, safeguarding from online harms, and justice reform
As part of its focus on prevention and early intervention, the government plans to support schools to challenge misogyny and “ensure every child understands consent and healthy relationships”.
It will also work to stop young people accessing harmful and misogynistic online content; launch “major” awareness-raising and behaviour change campaigns; and hold a national summit to build a “positive, aspirational agenda for men and boys – not at the expense of women and girls, but in support of them”.
On pursuing the perpetrators of VAWG, measures include embedding domestic abuse specialists into emergency response, and deploying “cutting edge” enforcement technologies, including tactics typically reserved for counter terrorism and serious and organised crime.
The strategy also outlines how it will make support for victims and survivors “more consistent, responsive and easier to reach”, including through enabling them to access housing, health and justice “seamlessly”.
Another core focus is on reform of the court system “based on a trauma-informed approach” to improve access to justice, and to reform how services are commissioned “so that provision is fit for purpose and based on what victims and survivors actually need”.
The government added: “Through this approach, we will build a system that enables victims and survivors to cope, recover and move forward.”
The strategy sets out that the government will establish an Innovation Council on VAWG to work with the Office for the Impact Economy to identify innovative new projects, and then “scale those interventions that we think are likely to have the biggest impact”.
An accelerator programme to reduce violence against women and girls will also be launched this year by the Cabinet Office’s Test, Learn and Grow Programme in partnership with Islington Council, with the learnings shared with other London councils.
Governance, accountability, and international collaboration
As part of the plan, a cross-government VAWG ministerial group will be set up and meet quarterly to drive progress, and an annual report will be published “offering the public and parliament an opportunity to scrutinise this work”.
Other actions include work by chief scientific advisors, UK research and innovation platforms and policy professionals to develop research in areas where there are evidence gaps, and work by a joint Cabinet Office-HM Treasury unit to ensure evidence and evaluation “continually underpins” the delivery of the strategy.
International collaboration also forms part of the plan. The government said it intends to drive coordinated international action, with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) convening new partnerships and coalitions with countries around the world committed to tackling VAWG.
UK government’s work to date
Prior to the release of the strategy, the government introduced new criminal offences for creating sexually explicit deepfakes or taking intimate images without consent, for installing equipment to enable such acts, and for spiking.
It has also introduced measures to prevent and tackle ‘honour’-based abuse.
It has committed £160m (US$216m) to local authorities for 2025/26 to expand provision of safe accommodation for victims, survivors and children, and it has invested £13.1m (US$18m) in the establishment of a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection.
VAWG around the world
Other countries to have published dedicated VAWG strategies include Australia, which released its 10-year national plan in 2022. Like the UK government, it has also declared VAWG a national emergency and has pledged to halve related crimes in a decade.
A longitudinal study run by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found last year that one in three Australian men have emotionally, physically or sexually abused their intimate partner.
In Europe, research shows that one in three women has experienced gender-based violence, while in South Africa, the femicide rate is five times higher than the global average, according to UN Women.
South African women made headlines last November when they protested against gender-based violence ahead of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. In response, the government declared gender-based violence a national disaster, a move that requires authorities to take action and dedicate resources to combat it.
UN Women reported late last year that more than a third (34%) of women’s rights and civil society organisations report having suspended or shut down programmes to end violence against women and girls due to funding cuts by governments.
Read more: One in three Australian men report committing intimate partner violence, study finds
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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