Adopted at NCWGB AGM 2024

The National Council of Women in Conference assembled, welcomes the Government’s manifesto pledgeⁱ to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, including fast-tracking rape cases with specialist courts at every crown court location in England and Wales, specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force, strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders and introducing a new criminal offence for spiking. We welcome the measures already announced since the election, such as embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control roomsⁱⁱ and reviewing the system for tackling threats posed by extreme misogyny.ⁱⁱⁱ Nonetheless, we remain deeply concerned about the scale of violence against women and girls in England and Wales and the existing problems in the way the police and the criminal justice system are handling rape and sexual offence cases. NCW is therefore calling on the Government to address these problems by taking urgent and immediate steps to (a) ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services following its review of Operation Soteria;^iv (b) ensure the full implementation of the recommendations by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the College of Policing in their report on the police response to stalking;^v and (c) tackle the high backlog of rape and sexual offence cases in the crown court by (i) prioritising the manifesto pledge to fast-track rape cases with specialist courts at every crown court location in England and Wales and (ii) developing a strategy for retaining criminal law practitioners on the rape and sexual offences list to address the problem of last minute court cancellations due to the shortage of barristers.^vi Two themes are common to all the above: the need for greater resources and funding dedicated to tackling VAWG; and the pressing need for funded specialist VAWG victim support services to assist victims through the justice process and deter such high numbers of victims from withdrawing their case due to poor communication and the stress caused by having to wait years for their case to conclude.

Proposer: Gail Bishop, NCWGB Darlington & District Branch
Seconder: Penny Moon, NCWGB Darlington & District Branch
Submitted by: Gail Bishop, NCWGB Darlington & District Branch

i. Labour Party Manifesto 2024. Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls
ii. Gov.uk September 2024. New measures set out to combat violence against women and girls
iii. Extensive media reporting 18 August 2024. Home secretary orders review to identify gaps in system to tackle extremist ideologies including extreme misogyny
iv. HMICFRS August 2024. An inspection report on progress to introduce a national operating model for rape and other serious sexual offences investigations
v. Gov.uk 27 September 2024. The Police Response to Stalking
vi. The Criminal Bar Association of England and Wales February 2024. CBA RASSO Survey Results

Speech on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) – Gail Bishop

What I am proposing

• NCW welcomes the Government’s manifesto pledges
  • Halve VAWG in a decade
  • Fast track rape cases with specialist courts
  • Embed specialist RASSO teams in every police force
  • Strengthen the use of stalking protection orders
  • Make spiking a new criminal offence

• NCW welcomes the measures already announced
  • Embed domestic abuse specialist in 999 control rooms
  • Review system for tackling extreme misogyny

What the Resolution calls for

• New measures welcome but Government needs to address existing problems in the way the police and criminal justice system handle VAWG
• It is widely acknowledged that both are failing women and girls

Loss of trust

• 39% of women do not trust the police to handle VAWG
• 25% of women said their trust had gone down in the last year
• 20% of girls and young women do not trust the police at all to help them

Sources: Refuge ““ January 2024. Plan International ““ the State of Girls’ Rights 2024

What the Resolution calls for

• Ensure the full implementation of the
  • recommendations of the review of police Operation Soteria
  • recommendations of the report on the police response to stalking
• Measures to tackle the high backlog of rape cases in the courts
• Provide greater resources and funding for tackling VAWG
• Provide comprehensive, fully funded victim support services

Why ““ scale of VAWG in England and Wales

Dame Maggie Blyth, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for VAWG

“Violence Against Women and Girls has reached epidemic levels in England and Wales, in terms of its scale, complexity and impact on victims”

Source: National Police Chiefs’ Council, VAWG National Policing Statement 2024

• 37% increase in recorded VAWG related crimes in the 5 years to end-March 2023
• VAWG offending was nearly 20% of all police recorded crime in the year to end-March 2023
• 1 in 6 homicides in England and Wales were linked to domestic abuse

Source: End Violence Against Women and Girls Snapshot 2024

Sexual offences ““ year to end-March 2023

• 195,315 sexual offences recorded by police
  • Police estimates put the actual number at 1,076,000
• 889,918 domestic abuse offences recorded by police
  • Police estimates put the actual number at over 2mn

Source: National Policing Statement 2024 For Violence Against Women and Girls. Crime Survey for England and Wales

Domestic abuse ““ year to end-September 2023

• 862,765 offences recorded by police
• 51,323 completed prosecutions
• 39,033 convictions

Source: End Violence Against Women and Girls Snapshot 2024

Rape – year to end-September 2023

• 67,938 rape offences recorded by police
• 36% of all sexual offences recorded
• 2,008 convictions

Source: End Violence Against Women and Girls Snapshot 2024

Operation Soteria

• Programme to improve police handling of RASSO involving
  • Victim centred and suspect-focused investigations
  • Disrupting repeat suspects
  • A new approach to engaging with victims
  • Better training & development of officers
  • Strategic use of police data & digital forensics
• Soteria piloted in 19 police forces prior to national rollout
• After 1 year, police inspectorate reviewed 9 of the 19 forces that have adopted it

Source: HMICFRS ““ Progress to Introduce a NOM for RASSO, August 2024

Operation Soteria – findings

• Early signs of positive progress
• Major changes required to maximise its effectiveness
• In some forces
  • Lack of understanding of extent of RASSO in their area, of how Soteria operated and of the benefits it could offer
  • RASSO personnel overstretched. Routinely diverted to cover sporting events and festivals
  • Many RASSO teams were staffed with personnel not fully qualified or still in training. No wellbeing support for teams
• Gaps in data making harder to identify suspects or repeat offenders: 1 in 4 sexual offences involve repeat offenders
• Victims routinely waiting 2 years or more for case to come to trial. Up to 4 years in one force. Inadequate victim support
• Delays and poor communication meant victims often withdrew
• Insufficient funding for victim services ““ in some forces it was only covered for next 3 months

Operation Soteria – recommendations

• Provide funding for Soteria Joint Unit beyond April 2025
• Ensure forces have the means to recruit the RASSO specialists and investigators they need
• Make the career path more attractive
• All RASSO officers should receive College of Police approved training
• Guidance on how to manage an investigation and reduce data errors
• Guidance and resources for identifying and managing RASSO suspects and repeat offenders effectively
• Guidance on use of protection orders
• HO and MoJ should provide extra, long-term funding and specialist support services for victims

Police response to stalking

• 20.2% of women are estimated to have experienced stalking at some point since the age of 16 (cf. 8.7% of men)
• An estimated 1.5mn people aged 16 or more experienced stalking in the year ending March 2024
• 4% women cf 2.3% men

Source: ONS people, population and community crime and justice September 2024

Report on police response to stalking

• Result of a police super-complaint brought by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium
  • A super-complaint raises concerns about systemic issues in policing

Source: HMICFRS, Independent Office of Police Conduct, College of Policing ““ The Police Response to Stalking, 27 September 2024

Police response to stalking ““ review findings

• Some examples of good practice but in too many cases victims being let down
• Multiple incidents being treated as single events rather than a pattern that constituted stalking
• Flawed investigations > inappropriate decisions / decisions to take no further action
• Incidents minimised or trivialised
• Risks to victims not being recognised
• Insufficient and ineffective use of protection orders
• Dangerous or unhelpful advice given to victims
• Lack of referrals to specialist services leaving victims exposed

Police response to stalking ““ recommendations

• Make law easier for police to understand and apply
• A single, clear definition of stalking
• Make protection orders simpler to understand and easier to apply
• Increase resourcing and training of frontline staff
• Ensure right specialist support is available for victims
• Ensure proper risk assessments are done
  • 470 cases reviewed. Identified serious risk to the victim, including homicide, in 297. Police only identified it in 65.
• Not taking stalking seriously

Suzy Lamplugh Trust response

• Police ““ publish action plan for implementing recommendations
• Government
  • publish a National Action Plan for tackling stalking
  • ring-fence £2.4mn for specialist victim support services
  • mandate stalking training across all criminal justice agencies
  • Multi-agency Stalking Intervention Programmes in all forces

Court backlog in RASSO cases ““ end-September 2023

• 9,792 RASSO cases in the Crown Court backlog, 1 in 7 of all backlogged criminal cases (226% cf. 2018, 5% in 3 months)
• 18-month average wait from charge to trial
• Av. 5½ year wait from reporting to trail conclusion for bailed rape
• 976 RASSO trials adjourned or postponed in first 9 months of 2023, 184 due the lack of a barrister

Sources: CBA RASSO survey ““ February 2024.

Court backlog in rape cases ““ the issues

• Victims’ trial dates often moved multiple times, often at short notice, because of the lack of a prosecuting or defence barrister
• High number of victims drop out of the system when faced with the trauma and stress of years of delay
• CBA is warning of a chronic shortage of RASSO trained barristers
• CBA survey shows 2/3rds of barristers will not be reapplying to be on the list for RASSO cases, which are complex and specialised
• Poor well-being and low remuneration cf. other legal work

Source: CBA RASSO Survey ““ February 2024

Court backlog in rape cases ““ NCW calls for

• Shabana Mahmood: “Justice delayed is justice denied”
• Urgent government action to tackle the twin issues of long court waiting times and multiple court adjournments.
  • Develop a strategy to retain barristers on the RASSO list
  • Invest in training for all legal personnel involved in RASSO work
  • Invest in dilapidated buildings to keep more courts open
• Provide guaranteed funding for specialist victim support services
  • to support victims through the bewildering criminal justice process, meet their needs and ensure their safety
  • to stop victims dropping their case due to the impact on their health, well-being and finances due to delays, trial postponement and lack of communication

Conclusion

• The scale of VAWG is staggering. The government and the police must take immediate action to
  • Implement the recommendation of the review of Operation Soteria and of the report on the police response to stalking
  • Tackle the backlog of RASSO cases in the Crown Court
  • Increased funding for tackling VAWG
• Increased funding & resources for victim support services