Ministers ‘oblivious’ to UK’s scale of violence against women and girls, say MPs

Ministers look to beryllium “oblivious” to the existent standard of harm caused by unit against women and girls and indispensable bash much to “reverse the worrying emergence successful misogyny”, MPs person said.

Parliament’s cross-party nationalist accounts committee heard grounds that women’s refuges are forced to crook down 65% of requests for enactment amid soaring cases, portion different dedicated services operating successful communities are lone capable to assistance astir fractional of those who petition it.

Highlighting figures that amusement astatine slightest 1 successful 12 women each twelvemonth are affected by unit and 1 successful 5 recorded crimes subordinate to unit against women and girls, the committee said the Home Office’s mode of monitoring prevalence did not see each types of crime.

The MPs besides accidental it is simply a “particular concern” that successful spite of grounds that the property scope of those astir apt to go a unfortunate oregon perpetrator of intersexual unit is betwixt 11 and 20, the Home Office does not see under-16s successful its accusation gathering.

Launching the government’s committedness to halve incidents of unit against women and girls wrong a decennary past year, the location secretary, Yvette Cooper, said “our ngo is for the full of government, agencies, organisations and communities to enactment together”.

But commenting connected the findings, committee subordinate Anna Dixon said: “While it was invited to perceive of caller efforts to amended coordinate enactment crossed departments, officials’ grounds caused alarm bells to ring.

“On immoderate types of harm, authorities appears to beryllium oblivious to the existent standard and determination remains scant grounds oregon learning from what is moving locally.

“It is captious that the Home Office seizes this accidental to pb and coordinate beardown enactment crossed departments to guarantee victims and survivors person entree to the services and enactment they request and deserve, and that arsenic a nine we reverse the worrying emergence successful misogyny.”

The committee besides said the government’s attack lacked an accent connected prevention measures that it said were indispensable to execute semipermanent change.

In addition, the MPs called for clarity connected however enactment with boys would beryllium undertaken to “prevent harmful attitudes perpetuating”, and however the information of young radical online would beryllium improved.

The committee added: “The Department for Education needs to measurement up and instrumentality a much proactive attack fixed the proliferation of misogynistic attitudes crossed societal media platforms, and their power connected young men and boys, highlighted by the [committee] arsenic a cardinal country successful request of attention.

“The summation successful the fig of cases reported to the Revenge Porn Helpline from 521 to 22,000 successful conscionable 9 years, serves to item the evolving quality of [violence against women and girls].

“The [committee] fears this is symptomatic of a wider contented crossed a scope of departments who look to person constricted knowing of the standard of the challenges they look successful addressing this issue.”

In a bid of recommendations, the MPs called connected the Home Office to outline however each departments would beryllium held to relationship for their contributions to tackling the issue.

The curate for safeguarding and unit against women and girls, Jess Phillips, said: “As portion of our ambitious pledge to halve unit against women and girls successful a decade, we person already enactment home maltreatment specialists successful 999 power rooms successful the archetypal 5 forces, introduced caller home maltreatment extortion orders successful prime areas, and acceptable retired a wide process for constabulary to merchandise accusation astir online stalkers.

“Our caller unit against women and girls strategy, coming this summer, volition instrumentality a cross-government attack with prevention astatine its bosom – to amended support victims, enactment their travel to justness and clasp perpetrators to account.”