Urgent action needed to stop violence against women, report finds

Urgent action is needed to prevent violent, sexual attacks against women and girls, a report has found four years after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

The latest stage of the Angiolini Inquiry found more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales had not made basic changes for investigating sexual offences.

The kidnapping and murder of Ms Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens while she was walking home in south London in March 2021 led to national outrage and widespread protests.

Lady Elish Angiolini KC, chair of the inquiry, said: "This has to start with prevention."

But she added: "In reality, I have found the response overall lacks what is afforded to other high-priority crimes where funding and preventative activity is the norm."

Couzens, who is serving a whole life term in jail, had been a police officer for almost 20 years before he murdered Ms Everard.

It is alleged he indecently exposed himself on two separate occasions in the months leading up to the attack.

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been described as a "national threat" and in 2023 the government outlined the need for police forces to coordinate their response and resources to tackle such crimes in line with other national threats.

Lady Elish added: "Until this disparity is addressed, violence against women and girls cannot be credibly called a 'national priority'."

The report also pointed to concerns over gaps in national data, including how many women report being the victim of rape and other sexually motivated crimes in public spaces.

Lady Elish warned that without these figures being gathered and recorded consistently across all forces, patterns of offending cannot be spotted.

Sarah Everard's family said in a statement that they hoped these latest inquiry findings had "far-reaching consequences".

"It shows how much work there is to do in preventing sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces and all those at risk," the statement said.

"Sarah is always in our thoughts and we feel the inquiry continues to honour her memory. We stand in recognising the urgent need for positive change".

New recommendations in part two of the Angiolini Inquiry include encouraging more people to take action when they see bad behaviour, with the introduction of a wider Good Samaritan law as well as consistent collection and sharing of data on national and local levels.

Farah Naz, the aunt of Zara Aleena who was sexually assaulted and murdered after a night out in east London by a prolific offender in 2022, says she hopes the Good Samaritan law she has championed is taken seriously and progresses with urgency.

She said: "My niece was walking home. That is all she was doing. This report not only examines specific failures surrounding Sarah and Zara but also addresses the wider structures, cultural patterns and operational weaknesses that place women and girls at risk in public space".

Other recommendations include better street lighting, improvements to information about positive masculinity for men and boys and targeted consistent public messaging about how to report crimes such as indecent exposure.