Recommendation ANG-25: Whole-system approach to preventing sexually motivated crimes

By June 2026, building on the wider violence against women and girls strategy, the Government should publish a comprehensive, multi-year and whole-system prevention strategy, which specifically targets the perpetrators of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces. This strategy should:

a. coordinate activity and measures aimed at: (i) preventing these crimes happening in the first place; and (ii) reducing the risk of perpetrators reoffending;

b. coordinate and direct work to encourage reporting of these crimes;

c. be based on: (i) a clear expectation of how and why the planned actions aim to contribute to prevention of crimes (informed by the research commissioned under Recommendation 17(b); and (ii) comprehensive and meaningful engagement with stakeholders, including charity and voluntary sector groups who represent victims and perpetrators;

d. adopt a public health approach, with prevention activity across primary, secondary and tertiary levels;

e. provide absolute clarity on the roles and responsibilities of essential and accountable sectors, agencies and departments to help avoid duplication in efforts and strengthen joint working - this should include: (i) following liaison with the National Police Chiefs' Council, clarity on the extent of the role of policing in primary prevention (i.e. tackling the underlying roots of violence against women and girls); and (ii) where appropriate, introducing statutory duties where this is assessed as most needed;

f. have secure multi-year funding, aligning with at least the ten-year period specified for halving violence against women and girls; and

g. include the establishment of a robust evaluation mechanism - in order to measure the success of the prevention strategy - which should be aligned with the recommendations of the Home Affairs Committee's 2025 report Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls: Funding and include a set of common metrics to allow for assessment of activity across all levels, and to measure progress.

If an assessment is made that new statutory duties or obligations are required to support the implementation of this prevention strategy and avoid duplication in efforts and strengthen joint working, steps should be taken without delay to secure the introduction of the relevant legislation.