Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched what he describes as the largest ever crackdown on violence against women and girls in British history, pledging to halve the rate of such crimes within a decade.
A Personal Promise Forged in Tragedy
Starmer has revealed a deeply personal motivation behind the new national strategy, recalling a pivotal moment from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions. He met with Penny and John Clough, whose daughter Jane, a nurse, was murdered in her hospital's car park by a man awaiting trial for repeatedly raping her.
"I gave them my word then that I would do everything I could, not just for Penny, John and Jane, but for all the Pennys, Johns and Janes in our country," Starmer stated, framing this week's announcement as the continuation of that promise.
The Stark Statistics Driving Action
The Prime Minister pointed to alarming data to underscore the urgency of the government's plan. In England and Wales, on average, one woman is killed every week by a current or former partner. Police record a domestic abuse-related crime every 40 seconds, equating to nearly 200 assaults daily.
There is also growing concern about an "alarming rise in violence and abuse in teenage relationships," prompting a key part of the new preventative measures.
A Three-Pronged National Strategy
The unprecedented plan will deploy the full power of the state, backed by investment and a cross-government approach, focusing on three core areas: prevention, perpetrator pursuit, and victim support.
On prevention, the strategy aims to root out the causes of violence. Every student in England will be offered education on healthy relationships and consent. A new helpline will be established for parents and teachers to report harmful behaviour in teenagers, and the government vows to build on the Online Safety Act to better protect young people online.
On pursuing perpetrators, tactics borrowed from counter-terrorism will be used to catch more offenders. The plan commits to creating dedicated rape units in all police forces across England and Wales by 2029, overhauling sex offender management, and rolling out new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders with no fixed time limit.
On supporting survivors, an extra £20 million will be invested in refuges, with a further £50 million allocated for therapeutic support to help children who have been sexually abused rebuild their lives.
A Call for a Whole-Society Response
Starmer emphasised that turning around deep-seated misogynistic attitudes requires collective action. He praised the Metro newspaper's "This Is Not Right" campaign for changing the national conversation and directly enlisted its readers to help make all forms of abuse "utterly unacceptable."
"If each and every one of us plays our part to stamp these harmful attitudes out I’m convinced it can be done," the Prime Minister said. "I want to make Britain one of the safest places in the world for women and girls. That mission starts now."
