The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced a comprehensive five-year strategy to fundamentally improve how it handles cases of violence against women and girls (VAWG). This major initiative comes as new data reveals the shocking prevalence of domestic abuse within other crime types, particularly sexual offences.
Uncovering the Layers of Abuse
Fresh analysis from the CPS has uncovered significant overlaps between different forms of violence against women. The statistics are stark: domestic abuse features in more than a third of rape cases (35.1%), while it appears in over eight out of ten stalking cases (82.8%) and 85.6% of image-based sexual abuse cases, commonly known as revenge porn.
Perhaps most strikingly, 93.5% of honour-based crime charges are connected to domestic abuse. Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, emphasised that abuse frequently involves multiple layers of offending that aren't always recognised.
"All too often, in what is presented as a domestic abuse case involving physical violence, we see many layers including strangulation, controlling or coercive behaviour and revenge porn," Parkinson stated. "It is vital we train our staff to recognise the full picture of abuse so the charges we make reflect the totality of the offending."
A Comprehensive Training Overhaul
The new VAWG strategy will see CPS staff receive enhanced training across multiple specialist areas. The programme will cover honour-based abuse, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, stalking, and harassment. Additionally, the CPS will develop a specific stalking action plan that includes addressing cyberstalking.
Other key measures include embedding academic research on the links between domestic abuse and sexual offences, installing dedicated victim liaison officers in Rape and Serious Sexual Offence units, and offering pre-trial meetings for adult victims of sexual offences.
Ellie Reeves, the Solicitor General, acknowledged past shortcomings during a press conference at the CPS London headquarters. "Communications with victims have often lacked empathy and not been of a consistently high standard," she admitted. "One of the things this strategy draws out is that determination to improve those communications and drive up those standards."
Addressing Complex Cases and Systemic Challenges
The strategy takes particular aim at high-risk situations, offering an enhanced service for domestic abuse victims deemed at greatest risk. It will also establish annual national scrutiny panels focusing on rape, honour-based abuse, and modern slavery.
Baljit Ubhey, the CPS Director of Policy and senior responsible officer for the VAWG strategy, highlighted the urgent need to address cases where domestic abuse leads to suicide. With such deaths now outstripping homicide rates in domestic abuse contexts, Ubhey stressed: "We absolutely do need to be more curious, and think: can we build those cases?"
When questioned about potential new legislation to prosecute perpetrators following domestic abuse-related suicides, Ellie Reeves described it as "a really important area that needs some thinking about."
The initiative faces significant practical challenges, notably the record-breaking crown court backlog in England and Wales exceeding 78,000 cases. While Ubhey acknowledged "we can't magic away the delay," Parkinson argued that better recognising the connections between crimes would ultimately help reduce offence rates.
"It is only by doing this and ensuring that perpetrators face the full force of the law that we will get the message through, especially to younger men and boys," Parkinson concluded, "and we will start to see progress in reducing these crimes."
