12/03/2026
By Jonathan Hussey
Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains one of the most complex and high-risk challenges facing UK policing. Domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence, harassment, and coercive control generate significant demand, carry profound safeguarding risks, and attract intense public and political scrutiny. Despite sustained investment in enforcement and victim support, repeat victimisation and repeat perpetration remain persistent problems.
This reflects a difficult reality.
While effective investigation and enforcement are essential, they are not sufficient on their own to deliver long-term safety. VAWG is rarely an isolated incident. It is most often part of an escalating pattern of behaviour shaped by power, control, entitlement, substance misuse, trauma, and social attitudes. Without addressing these underlying drivers, criminal justice responses become cyclical, drawing the same individuals and families back into repeated contact with police and partner agencies. Evidence consistently shows that early, targeted intervention with perpetrators plays a critical role in reducing repeat harm.
Structured behaviour change programmes, delivered alongside safeguarding and victim advocacy, have been shown to reduce reoffending and improve compliance when compared with informal warnings or unstructured referrals. These approaches support accountability while creating opportunities for meaningful change. At the same time, victim engagement remains central to effective VAWG responses. Survivors are more likely to remain engaged with the justice process when they experience consistent communication, coordinated multi-agency support, and visible action to manage risk.
Fragmented services and unclear pathways undermine confidence and increase withdrawal rates, particularly in high-risk domestic abuse cases. In recent years, national frameworks and inspection regimes have emphasised the importance of integrated VAWG strategies. Forces are expected to demonstrate strong risk assessment, effective use of civil and criminal protections, partnership working, and access to specialist interventions. This reflects a growing recognition that safeguarding cannot be delivered by policing alone.
However, implementation remains uneven. In some areas, access to high-quality perpetrator programmes, therapeutic services, and culturally competent support remains limited. In others, capacity constraints delay referrals and weaken risk management. These gaps create avoidable vulnerabilities and expose forces to operational and reputational risk.
A more sustainable approach requires a shift from fragmented responses to whole-system models. This means aligning enforcement, safeguarding, perpetrator intervention, substance misuse services, housing, mental health provision, and family support within clear governance frameworks. It also requires sustained investment in practitioner training, supervision, and data infrastructure to ensure consistent standards.
Data and performance management are equally important. Senior leaders need reliable information on repeat incidents, escalation patterns, intervention engagement, and long-term outcomes. Without this, it is difficult to assess impact, allocate resources effectively, or provide assurance to PCCs and inspectors. Crucially, VAWG strategies must balance urgency with prevention.
High-risk cases demand immediate action. But long-term safety depends on reducing the flow of new victims and chronic perpetrators into the system. Evidence-based behaviour change, delivered early and supported by strong partnership pathways, is central to achieving this. The evidence is clear. Enforcement alone does not reduce repeat harm in VAWG cases. Long-term safety is most consistently achieved when robust investigation is combined with structured perpetrator interventions, coordinated safeguarding, and sustained victim support. National evaluations and academic research repeatedly show that early, targeted behaviour change programmes, delivered within strong multi-agency frameworks, are associated with lower reoffending, improved compliance, and reduced escalation. Yet access to these interventions remains inconsistent. In too many areas, provision depends on short-term funding, limited capacity, or fragmented commissioning.
This creates postcode variation in victim protection and weakens system-wide effectiveness. Senior leaders now face a strategic choice. They can continue to manage VAWG primarily through crisis response and enforcement, accepting high repeat demand and persistent risk. Or they can invest in evidence-based, locally embedded, and properly governed intervention pathways that address behaviour, vulnerability, and harm in a coordinated way. This means prioritising evidence-based perpetrator programmes, strengthening partnerships with specialist providers, integrating substance misuse and mental health support, and embedding data-driven performance management. It means treating behaviour change and prevention as core policing functions, not optional additions. For forces seeking to reduce harm, improve legitimacy, and meet inspection expectations, this shift is no longer optional. Evidence-informed, whole system approaches are what deliver sustainable safety.
The task now is to scale what works, commission with confidence, and hold systems accountable for long-term outcomes, not just short-term activity.