Policy paper

Ending violence against women and girls strategy action plan update (March 2019) (accessible version)

Updated 21 July 2021

This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government

Delivery of the commitments in the 2016 Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy Action Plan

Violence against women and girls are devastating crimes that can shatter lives and prevent women and girls from leading their lives free from fear and contributing fully to our society. Not only does it have a profound impact on victims themselves, but also extracts a huge cost from our health services, education, and the criminal justice system, as well as deeply affecting those around them, particularly children.

Protecting women and girls from violence, and supporting victims and survivors, is a key priority for this government. We are leading the way at national and international level to end these horrendous crimes; we have laid a solid foundation and are optimistic that this will help to strengthen our efforts and collaboration further to end VAWG. For example, we have provided £17 million for transformative projects that promote and embed the best local practices and ensure that early intervention and prevention become the norm. We have published a five-year Sexual Assault Services strategy, published a landmark Draft Domestic Abuse Bill which includes measures such as the establishment of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and introduction of new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and have published the Victims Strategy, which will overhaul the services provided to all victims of crime. This update outlines the progress that has been made in delivering the commitments published alongside the VAWG Strategy in 2016. We have made significant progress, but there is more to do to bring these crimes out of the shadows.

Oversight of the Action Plan continues to be led through the Ending VAWG Inter Ministerial Group, chaired by the Home Secretary. The Group sets the direction of the work to tackle VAWG, ensuring that it remains focused, relevant and evolves to ensure that our efforts tackle new and emerging issues; that is why some actions have been revised to take this into account.

There are 95 actions of which 54 have been completed, 29 are on track to be delivered by the date set out in 2016, and 12 remain a work in progress, due to be delivered by 2020. We have also identified further actions to take forward through the Refreshed VAWG Strategy. Government alone cannot end VAWG. But in partnership working with public services, specialist third sector organisations, and listening to the voices of victims and survivors we can drive progress and continue our efforts to end VAWG.

VAWG Strategy Action Plan 2016 – 2020

Summary

On Track: work against this action is ongoing and continues to progress beyond the delivery date or is an ongoing action through to 2020.

Work in Progress: action has either been amended to reflect new and emerging issues or has been delayed, however work is in train to deliver the action by 2020.

Schools and education

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
1	Develop new guidance in consultation with teachers for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) lessons specifically about gender equality.	April 2016	GEO	Completed
2	Fund the Freedom Charity to expand the ‘Train the Trainers’ project to reach a greater number of communities and empower teachers to deal with the topic of forced marriage sensitively and confidently.	April 2016	GEO	Completed
3	Publish a consultation report on updated statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, Keeping Children Safe in Education, to come into force in September 2016.	May 2016	DFE	Completed
4	Support and empower marginalised women who are not able to access or take the opportunities of living in modern Britain, including by: increasing access to English language tuition; challenging cultural and religious attitudes that hinder integration; and promoting awareness of issues such as domestic violence.	June 2018	MHCLG	On track

Raising awareness

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
5	Launch the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships and promote understanding of healthy relationships and consent – including among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) teenagers.	Feb 2016, March 2018	HO	Completed
6	Launch a communications campaign to encourage the public to report all forms of child abuse to help address people’s fear of reporting.	2016	DFE	Completed
7	Develop government communication resources to help inform local campaigns aimed at raising awareness of VAWG issues.	May 2016, March 2018	HO	Completed
8	Update Media Smart resources (with the Advertising Association) to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content.	September 2016	GEO	Completed
9	Produce a resource pack on women, girls and gangs to support identification of those at risk and effective interventions for frontline professionals.	June 2016	HO	Work in progress
10	Conduct or commission mapping of the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention to identify how government can build on these initiatives to further social change.	April 2017	GEO	Completed
11	Continue to work with faith leaders to increase signatories to the declaration condemning Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and use the declaration to drive cultural change.	April 2018	MHCLG	Work in progress
12	Continue outreach work carried out by FGM units and Forced Marriage Units to work with communities to highlight the issues and raise awareness.	March 2017	HO/FCO	On track

Tackling perpetrators

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
13	Monitor the use of protection orders for a range of VAWG offences to promote wider take up and better enforcement of breaches.	June 2017	HO	On track
14	Publish an evaluation of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) to promote wider uptake.	May 2016	HO	Completed
15	Consider criminalising breach of a Domestic Violence Protection Order.	June 2016	HO	Completed
16	Support development of the evidence base on perpetrator programmes and support innovative approaches to working with perpetrators such as the Drive project to help achieve sustainable reductions in repeat offending.	March 2017	HO	On track
17	Publish the findings of the consultation on introducing a new stalking protection order and if appropriate take forward legislation.	Summer 2016	HO	Completed

Broader safeguarding

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
18	Raise standards in social work and overhaul social work education and practice to improve the recruitment, retention and development of social workers under-pinned by a new regulator that will have a relentless focus on raising the quality of social work education, training and practice in both children’s and adult’s services.	By 2020	DFE	On track
19	Establish a What Works Centre, with up to £20 million of funding, which will be an evidence- based resource to support social workers and work alongside the Chief Social Worker.	End of 2016	DFE	Work in progress

Health services

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
20	Support improvements in responses of health professionals to VAWG for example through roll out of the identification and referral to improve safety (IRIS) programme, free online training and more firmly embedding routine enquiry into domestic abuse in maternity and mental health services. From April 2016 we will begin to introduce sensitive routine enquiry of adverse childhood experiences in a range of targeted services where people who have been abused are likely to present, for example sexual assault referral centres and sexual health clinics.	April 2016	DHSC	Completed
21	Take forward with national bodies responsible for the health professional and public health workforce and other stakeholders the recommendation by the Chief Medical Officer that VAWG needs to be included in healthcare undergraduate training.	May 2017	DHSC	Completed
22	Work with health arms length bodies and other partners to expand and embed routine enquiry of abuse in childhood and adulthood in certain targeted services such as children’s and adult mental health services, sexual health services, Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and substance misuse to improve early identification and support, and data for commissioners.	Autumn 2016	DHSC	Completed
23	Consider with NHS Digital how redevelopment of health services data sets, such as emergency care data and mental health service data for children and adults, might be used to improve prevention and the healthcare response to violence against women and children.	March 2017	DHSC	Completed
24	Produce an updated version of ‘Responding to Domestic Abuse: A Resource for Health Professionals’.	2016	DHSC	Completed
25	Continue to deliver the FGM Prevention Programme, rolling out a new FGM Risk Indication System to improve NHS safeguarding systems and address the mental health needs of women and girls living with FGM.	Summer 2017	DHSC	Completed

Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
26	Work with partners to improve and communicate the evidence base on preventing violence against women and girls.	2020	DFID	On track
27	Challenge traditional attitudes to sexual violence in conflict and work to end the stigma suffered by many survivors, including men and boys, which leaves them ostracised from society.	2020	FCO	On track

Preventing online abuse and exploitation

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
28	Establish an official government working group to map out current issues, prevalence, initiatives and barriers to addressing gendered online abuse to improve understanding and co-ordinate the response to online manifestations of VAWG.	December 2016	GEO/HO	Completed
29	Publish the government response to our consultation on age verification mechanisms to restrict access to pornographic websites by those under 18 and set out next steps.	Summer 2016	DCMS	Completed
30	Continue to ensure victims of revenge pornography have access to bespoke support and advice about their right to have the images removed from websites.	April 2017	GEO/HO	Completed
31	Work with law enforcement and online safety forums to analyse and understand the risks posed to women by online dating services and ensure appropriate safety advice is provided.	September 2016	HO	Completed
32	Explore options for using new technology to support victims, for example promoting the development of mobile phone apps to help victims of forced marriage and stalking.	December 2016	HO	On track

Provision of services - government funding

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
33	Provide £40 million over the Spending Review period to support domestic abuse services including refuge provision and other accommodation-based services.	2016-2020	MHCLG	On track
34	Provide funding for core services (Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs), Independent Sexual Violence Adviser’s (ISVAs) and Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs)).	March 2017	HO	Completed
35	Provide funding for national helplines.	March 2020	HO	On track
36	Continued funding for rape support services at current levels in 2016-17 and ensure this funding remains throughout the Spending Review period.	March 2020	MOJ	On track
37	Launch a VAWG service transformation fund to support innovation in local practice and improved local approaches to multi-agency working.	April 2017	HO	Completed

Service transformation

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
38	Establish a network of experts in VAWG to provide targeted support to local areas to improve development of local VAWG strategies, and support effective whole family approaches.	September 2016	HO	Completed
39	Publish a National Statement of Expectations (NSE) to provide a framework for commissioning of VAWG services for local areas covering key elements of effective local commissioning practice.	May 2016	MHCLG/HO	Completed
40	Support wider service transformation by disseminating examples of good practice such as pooling budgets and developing a needs-based approach.	April 2017	HO	Completed
41	Identify ways to incentivise local government and local commissioners to support innovation including use of payment by results models and social impact bonds.	2017	HO	Work in progress
42	Work with stakeholders to develop agreed service standards that identify what ‘success’ looks like for VAWG services and consider how service providers, including commercial providers, should be held to account for the services they provide.	December 2016	HO	Completed

Commissioning of VAWG services

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
43	Publish guidance and resources for commissioners to help develop an effective approach to VAWG service provision.	May 2016	HO	Completed
44	Develop a five-year strategy for the commissioning of SARCs.	July 2016	NHSE	Completed
45	Continue to invest in service improvements in SARCs and develop national performance indicators to quality assure and bench mark services across England.	April 2016	NHSE	Completed
46	Undertake a deep dive to get an accurate picture of SARC commissioning and provision across England.	April 2016	NHSE	Completed
47	Undertake engagement events with Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to ensure their understanding of their commissioning role for therapeutic care for victims of rape and sexual abuse.	April – October 2016	NHSE	Completed
48	Promote best practice and standards in the local commissioning approach by agreeing principles for perpetrator programmes and interventions.	December 2016	HO	Completed
49	Republish specification 30 defining the commissioning roles and responsibilities for SARCs.	April 2016	DHSC/ NHSE/PHE	Completed
50	Support local areas to better calculate the costs of VAWG and the impact on their budgets by reissuing an updated version of our ‘ready reckoner’.	Summer 2016	HO	Work in progress
51	Promote FGM resources available to health professionals to share with patients to increase awareness of FGM support and services available for onward referral and explore and agree with NHS England a framework for the national provision of FGM services.	March 2018	DHSC	Completed
52/ 53	To increase diversity of provision and access to services for victims with complex needs by (1) developing a cross-government approach based on a robust understanding of what works, (2) promoting new forms of services, (3) investing in locally-led approaches to service delivery through a new MHCLG fund for domestic abuse services and (4) exploring the use of social investment initiatives.	April 2017	MHCLG	Work in progress

Improving data

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
54	Work with other government departments, the College of Policing, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and domestic abuse organisations to develop a data set relating to domestic abuse that will enable more thorough analysis of how domestic abuse is dealt with in a force area.	June 2016	HO	Completed
55	Develop an approach to the collection of data recorded by police forces in relation to Honour Based Violence (HBV), Forced Marriage (FM) and FGM in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Consideration will be given to this data being recorded as part of the Annual Data Return.	June 2016	HO	On track
56	Work with Women’s Aid to investigate the capabilities of the UK Refuges Online (UKROL) for data collection and consider how to take forward the findings to contribute to broader data improvement on VAWG services.	2020	MHCLG/HO	Completed

Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
57	Ensure that the UK’s humanitarian action, including both assistance and protection, prevents and responds to violence against women and girls.	2020	DFID	On track
58	Support the strengthening of political and legal systems in favour of survivors of violence overseas.	2020	DFID	On track
59	Continue to scale up, including through others, provisioning of services for survivors.	2020	DFID	On track
60	Further training on the International Protocol in Burma, DRC, Iraq, Syria and Sri Lanka.	2020	FCO	On track
61	Build the capacity of grassroots organisations and human rights defenders to support survivors to access local justice and other support programmes.	2020	FCO	On track

Partnership working - multi-agency structures

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
62	Through the VAWG peer support network, work with local areas to streamline multi-agency structures, reduce bureaucracy for local agencies and encourage collaborative local commitment to tackling all safeguarding issues.	April 2017	HO	On track
63	Implement the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) recommendation (from their report into the police response to domestic violence) for further multi- agency inspections to consider how individual services contribute to keeping victims safe, the quality of local partnerships and the ways in which joint working is scrutinised.	April 2017	HO	Completed
64	Deliver HMICFRS recommendation to commission a ‘task and finish group’ to evaluate the effectiveness of the various models in place for Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) and CRUs in terms of the outcomes achieved for victims of domestic abuse through the National Oversight Group.	Spring 2017	HO	Work in progress
65	Publish updated guidance on best practice identified through Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) quality assurance panels and support local areas to track how and when recommendations from domestic homicide reviews are implemented.	April 2017	HO	Completed
66	Work with NHS England, Public Health England, Health Education England and other partners to disseminate the findings from the policy research relating to violence against women and children and good practice arising from grants to third sector organisations.	March 2017	DHSC	Work in progress
67	Share learning from the approach Wales is taking to oversee local areas’ grip on tackling VAWG to help inform local approaches.	March 2017	HO	Completed
68	Carry out an urgent review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and take forward plans to centralise serious case reviews so that lessons from serious incidents can be learned more quickly and effectively.	March 2016	DFE	Completed

Making VAWG everyone’s business

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
69	Fund a training project for Housing Officers, to be delivered by the National Practitioner Support Service (NPSS), and the women’s sector, Safe Lives and Women’s Aid. The project will train 336 frontline local authority (LA) staff from a range of LAs in how to identify and respond to domestic violence and abuse.	Summer 2016	MHCLG	Completed
70	Support the development of Bystander Programmes such as that developed by University of the West of England and Public Health England (PHE) and disseminate good practice.	June 2017	HO	Completed
71	Continue to raise awareness of domestic violence and abuse in the private sector and encourage employers to develop robust workplace polices to support employees who may be victims of domestic abuse, violence or stalking.	Summer 2017	HO	Completed
72	Continue to encourage organisations and private sector companies to sign up to the Domestic Abuse Responsibility Pledge.	Summer 2017	HO	Work in progress

Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
73	Ensure strong UK contribution to support delivery of implementing the specific targets on VAWG, FGM and Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) within the Global Goals including through high-level partnerships with key developing countries.	2020	DFID	On track
74	Continue to work with likeminded countries to strengthen the international system as we work to end all forms of VAWG in all settings.	2020	DFID	On track
75	Work with other governments, particularly the group of Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) Champion (PSVIC) countries, the UN, African Union (AU) and other multilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to drive forward the PSVIC.	2020	FCO	On track

Pursuing perpetrators - improving the criminal justice response

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
76	Monitor the implementation of the new domestic abuse offence of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship and ensure professionals have the tools and expertise needed in this area.	April 2017	HO	On track
77	Continue working with international partners to change discriminatory laws and practices and to promote adoption of legislation to criminalise abusive behaviour and better protect victims.	2020	FCO	On track

Supporting victims and female offenders

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
78	Continue to explore ways that vulnerable victims and witnesses can give evidence from a location away from the court and consider rolling out pre- trial recorded cross-examination in VAWG cases.	2020	MOJ	On track
79	Review the implementation and impact of legislative changes in Northern Ireland which introduce the ‘Nordic’ approach to prostitution (which criminalises all purchasing of sex and decriminalises all selling).	April 2018	HO	On track
80	Support female offenders who are victims of violence and abuse to receive the interventions they need to stop offending and move into recovery for example by considering the models under development in Greater Manchester, Wales and London.	2020	HMPPS	On track
81	Roll out a new helpline for female offenders who have been victims of violence or abuse so that they can obtain support while in custody and on release following the pilot helpline delivered at HMP Holloway.	2020	HMPPS	Completed
82	Explore options to pilot joint police and mental health approaches to tackling stalking perpetrators, considering evidence from the Hampshire stalking clinic and the National Stalking Clinic.	April 2017	HO	Work in progress
83	Consider and respond to the HMICFRS recommendation to initiate a review of the existing legislative framework for all forms of HBV, including considering whether new legislation should be introduced.	June 2016	HO/MOJ	On track
84	Consider and respond to HMICFRS recommendation to develop a national process to co-ordinate the collection and dissemination of all Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs) and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs) and other relevant orders.	June 2016	HO/MOJ	Completed

Police response

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
85	Continue to implement the HMICFRS recommendations to improve the police response to domestic violence and abuse through the National Oversight Group chaired by the Home Secretary.	April 2017	HO	On track
86	Ensure that the views of victims of domestic abuse are incorporated routinely and consistently into national monitoring arrangements on the police response to domestic violence and abuse through the introduction of the Service Improvement Survey.	May 2016	HO	Completed
87	Deliver new training on domestic violence and abuse for first responders, supervisors and coaches, which reinforces the need for evidence gathering to apprehend serial perpetrators.	2020	COP	On track
88	Publish new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on stalking and harassment including new guidance on the use of Police Information Notices (PINs).	Spring 2016	COP	Work in progress
89	Review the guidance to forces to make sure that it is clear to officers the expectation about using body-worn video (BWV) to gather evidence including to support investigations of domestic abuse incidents.	March 2017	COP	Completed

Crown Prosecution Service response

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
90	Review policies, guidance, training and best practice across VAWG strands emphasising the need to ensure an offender-centric approach and to demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the needs of vulnerable victims.	2020	CPS	Completed
91	Provide regular oversight, including bi-annually from the Director of Public Prosecutions, of VAWG prosecutions through regular performance reviews of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) casework.	Bi-annual	CPS	Completed
92	Ensure transparency and accountability of VAWG prosecutions by the annual publication of a CPS VAWG Crime Report.	Annually	CPS	Completed
93	Continue to focus on harmful traditional practices including forced marriage, honour-based violence and female genital mutilation.	2020	CPS	Completed
94	Address ways with others in the Criminal Justice System to improve the level of support provided to victims of VAWG crimes throughout the criminal justice process including through Specialist Domestic Violence Courts and the work of Victim Liaison Units.	2020	CPS	Completed
95	Engage with stakeholders to inform the work of the CPS on VAWG including through quarterly meetings of the VAWG External Consultation Group, the Community Accountability Forum and, locally, through the work of the Equality, Diversity and Community Engagement Managers.	2020	CPS	Completed

Detailed progress against the actions

Schools and Education

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
1 Develop new guidance in consultation with teachers for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) lessons specifically about gender equality.	April 2016	GEO	Completed

We have consulted on how the teaching of Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) and Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PHSE) can be improved. We published a consultation on the draft guidance for SRE and PSHE in July 2018, which includes reference to gender equality, and we are considering further options as part of broader work to tackle harmful gender norms.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
2	Fund the Freedom Charity to expand the ‘Train the Trainers’ project to reach a greater number of communities and empower teachers to deal with the topic of forced marriage sensitively and confidently.	April 2016	GEO	Completed

The government funded the Freedom Charity to expand their ‘Train the Trainers’ project to reach a greater number of communities and empower teachers to respond to forced marriage issues sensitively and confidently. Through this funding the Freedom Charity were able to reach out to 3,620 students and 1,230 teachers.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
3	Publish a consultation report on updated statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, Keeping Children Safe in Education, to come into force in September 2016.	May 2016	DFE	Completed

Our updated statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, was published in September 2018, and sets out the legal duties schools must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under 18. The updated guidance contains a new section (Part 5) that sets out how schools and colleges should respond to reports of child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment. We have committed to keeping both the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance and the Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment advice under review and will update and strengthen when required.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
4	Support and empower marginalised women who are not able to access or take the opportunities of living in modern Britain, including by: increasing access to English language tuition; challenging cultural and religious attitudes that hinder integration; and promoting awareness of issues such as domestic violence.	June 2017	MHCLG	On track

We want everyone to make the most of the opportunities that living in Britain has to offer. By March 2018, MHCLG’s community-based English Language programme had supported over 70,000 isolated adults, predominantly women, to improve their English language skills and build confidence to engage with public services and the wider community. We have extended the programme for a further year to reach over

19,000 new learners by March 2019. Whilst our current providers do not have an explicit remit of raising awareness of domestic abuse, each course uses material to help participants engage with public services, such as health and the police, and participate in the community.

Raising awareness

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
5	Launch the second phase of the national prevention campaign to challenge abuse in teenage relationships and promote understanding of healthy relationships and consent – including among LGBT teenagers.	February 2016, March 2018	HO	Completed

The government ran the ‘Disrespect Nobody’ communications campaign to help young people understand what a healthy relationship is and rethink their views of controlling behaviour, sexual violence, abuse and what consent means in relationships. The campaigns commenced in 2016 and the third year has been successfully launched and completed. The Disrespect Nobody was channelled through radio, video on demand, Spotify, social media such as Snapchat and Twitter as well as X-Box. We are currently undertaking evaluations to inform our next steps.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
6	Launch a communications campaign to encourage the public to report all forms of child abuse to help address people’s fear of reporting.	Autumn 2016	DFE	Completed

The Together We Can Tackle Child Abuse^{[footnote 1]} campaign was launched in 2016 and aims to increase awareness of the signs of child abuse and neglect amongst members of the public, and to increase confidence in reporting concerns. In Spring 2018, we ran the third phase of activity, which took a national approach for the first time, reaching more than 6.6 million people. As a result, 76% of those who watched the campaign reported feeling confident in reporting child abuse and neglect (a 6% increase from the previous year) and 88% of all adults believe we all have a role to play in protecting children and young people from child abuse and neglect. Building on the success of the campaign and to further engage with parents and carers about this issue, it was relaunched for a fourth time on 19 November in conjunction with the World day for the prevention of Child Abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
7	Develop government communication resources to help inform local campaigns aimed at raising awareness of VAWG issues.	May 2016, March 2018	HO	Completed

We have, along with the PSHE Association, developed discussion guides and session plans to support the Disrespect Nobody campaign.^{[footnote 2]} The aim is to prevent abusive behaviours within young people’s relationships.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
8	Update Media Smart resources (with the Advertising Association) to help teachers and parents improve primary school children’s understanding of how gender is represented in the media and their resilience to negative content.	September 2016	GEO	Completed

We commissioned Media Smart, an organisation that produces resources for young people, teachers and parents, to help them think about the effect of advertising on young people. Media Smart^{[footnote 3]} produced a resource pack designed to build emotional resilience as young people engage with messages and methods of advertising.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
9	Produce a resource pack on women, girls and gangs to support identification of those at risk and effective interventions for frontline professionals.	June 2016	HO	Work in progress

Since the VAWG Strategy Action Plan was published in 2016, we have been working hard to respond to serious and gang violence, and in April 2018, published the Serious Violence Strategy^{[footnote 4]} setting out an ambitious programme of work to tackle these horrendous crimes and associated exploitation that comes with it.

The government has committed £22 million over the next two years through a new Early Intervention Youth Fund, as well as a new £200 million youth endowment fund, which will be delivered over 10 years and will build the evidence for early intervention. We will also continue to fund Young People’s Advocates (YPA) working with gang-affected young women and girls in Manchester, Birmingham and London, and we will explore whether the YPA model should be expanded in other areas.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
10	Conduct or commission mapping of the evidence base and initiatives that engage men, boys and bystanders in VAWG prevention to identify how government can build on these initiatives to further social change.	April 2017	GEO	Completed

We have mapped the evidence base and initiatives that engage men and boys alongside engagement with stakeholders working in this area. We are exploring options for a programme of work over the next year, which will include an evidence-based framework for engaging men and boys on challenging issues regarding relationships and gender. This could include work to inform practical tools to support schools or workplaces.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
11	Continue to work with faith leaders to increase signatories to the declaration condemning FGM and use the declaration to drive cultural change.	March 2017	MHCLG	Work in Progress

We undertook a survey of over 100 faith leaders and community organisations, and established that the faith leader declaration is not the most effective way of tackling FGM in faith communities as it was felt it did not serve as a deterrent. Our survey established that it would be better to target our work with the ethnic communities where FGM is most prevalent. We continue to work with faith leaders to reach out to these communities to break the connection between faith and practicing FGM.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
12	Continue outreach work carried out by FGM units and Forced Marriage Units to work with communities to highlight the issues and raise awareness.	March 2017	HO/FCO	On track

In partnership with the Council of Europe, we hosted an international conference in November 2018 on tackling forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), at which we announced a public consultation on whether there should be a mandatory reporting duty for professionals on forced marriage and unveiled a communications campaign to raise awareness of the different types of pressures associated with forced marriage. By mid-December the campaign videos had been viewed over 300,000 times on Facebook. The conference brought together survivors, policy officials and international experts and demonstrated the UK’s global leadership in tackling these crimes as well as generating further commitments from international governments to do more. The ongoing outreach programme run by the joint Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit delivers training and awareness raising sessions for professionals and communities across the country. For example, it is working with the National Police Chiefs Council, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and Association of Directors of Children’s Services to develop training workshops for police and social services. The Home Office’s FGM Unit continues to deliver its national outreach programme, which raises awareness of FGM and the work government is doing to tackle it amongst professionals and communities. In October 2018, the Home Office launched a communications campaign that seeks to prevent FGM by changing attitudes among affected communities through raising awareness of the negative long-term health consequences of FGM. Since it launched, over 3,500 campaign materials have been distributed to communities, schools, health clinics and law enforcement agencies.

Tackling Perpetrators

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
13	Monitor the use of protection orders for a range of VAWG offences to promote wider take up and better enforcement of breaches.	June 2017	HO	On track

We have been monitoring the use of the protective orders regime, that is currently available for domestic abuse cases, and we have identified several issues. On 8 March, we published our consultation paper ‘Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse’. The use of protection orders in domestic abuse cases formed a key component of our consultation, and we asked for views on proposals to introduce new domestic abuse protection orders. We will introduce a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order through the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill. Legislative measures for the introduction of a new Stalking Protection Order is already in train.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
14	Publish an evaluation of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) to promote wider uptake.	March 2016	HO	Completed

We published the evaluation^{[footnote 5]} of the DVDS in March 2016. The evaluation gives an assessment of how well the scheme is working since its national rollout in 2014.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
15	Consider criminalising breach of a Domestic Violence Protection Order.	June 2016	HO	Completed

The ‘Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse’ consultation sought views on a proposed domestic abuse protection order. We will seek to introduce a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order that will combine the strongest elements of the various existing orders and provide a flexible pathway for victims and practitioners; the Order will carry criminal sanctions if breached.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
16	Support development of the evidence base on perpetrator programmes and support innovative approaches to working with perpetrators such as the Drive Project to help achieve sustainable reductions in repeat offending.	March 2017	HO	On track

The Drive Project, which has been funded through the Police Transformation Fund, is now in its third and final year of the pilot to change the behaviour of high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators. The evaluation from the second year of the pilot is currently being finalised. Through the VAWG Service Transformation Fund we have also provided funding for 17 projects that involve working with perpetrators to change their behaviour. Evaluations from these projects will be available after 2019-20 on their effectiveness and to help inform best practice.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
17	Publish the findings of the consultation on introducing a new stalking protection order and if appropriate take forward legislation.	Summer 2016	HO	Completed

The government launched its consultation ‘Introducing a Stalking Protection Order’ in December 2015. A summary^{[footnote 6]} of the responses was published in December 2016. We are supporting measures for a Stalking Protection Order through Sarah Wollaston’s Private Members’ Bill ‘Stalking Protection Bill’.^{[footnote 7]}

Broader Safeguarding

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
18	Raise standards in social work and overhaul social work education and practice to improve the recruitment, retention and development of social workers underpinned by a new regulator that will have a relentless focus on raising the quality of social work education, training and practice in both children’s and adult’s services.	2020	DFE	On track

We are working to improve specialist child and family social work expertise.

We are establishing a national post-qualifying standard to provide a nationally consistent benchmark to which all local authorities will be encouraged to align their performance management systems, to the specialist knowledge and skills set out in the Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSS). We will then measure against these standards through voluntary rollout of the National Assessment and Accreditation System (NAAS), to begin with at two levels: practitioner and practice supervisor. This will provide nationally recognised staging points in social workers’ careers.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
19	Establish a What Works Centre, with up to £20 million of funding, which will be an evidence-based resource to support social workers and work alongside the Chief Social Worker.	End of 2016	DFE	Work in progress

The What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care is a new initiative to foster evidence-informed practice in children’s social care. The Centre will develop a strong evidence base around effective interventions and practice systems in children’s social care, and will support their implementation by practitioners and decision-makers. The What Works Centre will become a fully independent organisation by March 2020.

Health Services

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
20	Support improvements in responses of health professionals to VAWG, for example through roll out of the IRIS programme, free online training and more firmly embedding routine enquiry into domestic abuse in maternity and mental health services. From April 2016 we will begin to introduce sensitive routine enquiry of adverse childhood experiences in a range of targeted services where people who have been abused are likely to present, for example sexual assault referral centres and sexual health clinics.	April 2016	DHSC	Completed

The government has invested in a £2 million ‘whole health system’ approach to tackling domestic violence and abuse. The programme worked with eight pathfinder sites, to establish a comprehensive health practice in relation to domestic abuse in acute hospital trusts, mental health trusts and community-based identification and referral to improve safety (IRIS) programmes in GP settings, creating a model response to domestic abuse survivors; we will be exploring how IRIS can be implemented in different settings. The programme also raised awareness about the wider forms of VAWG, with the broader aim of implementing a whole health approach to this, as well as supporting improvements in how healthcare staff respond to children and young people affected. NHS England with the Department for Health and Social Care are supporting implementation of strengthened safeguarding arrangements across the NHS, including raising health care staff and awareness through a safeguarding app.

We also published ‘Responding to Domestic Abuse – a resource for health professionals’ in March 2017, which calls for routine enquiry into domestic abuse to become a fundamental part of the practice of every health professional. We have worked with the Royal College of GPs to develop a Violence Against Women and Children e-learning training course for GPs and other primary care professionals to improve their recognition of, and response to, victims of domestic abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
21	Take forward with national bodies responsible for the health professional and public health workforce and other stakeholders the recommendation by the Chief Medical Officer that VAWG needs to be included in healthcare undergraduate training.	May 2017	DHSC	Completed

We have published two competency frameworks that include requirements for training students and undergraduates to understand what domestic abuse is, recognise the signs, and know what to do if, or, when they identify concerns. These frameworks are the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s ‘Safeguarding children and young people – roles and competences for healthcare staff’,^{[footnote 8]} and the Royal College of Nursing published ‘Adult Safeguarding: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff’.^{[footnote 9]}

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
22	Work with health arms length bodies and other partners to expand and embed routine enquiry of abuse in childhood and adulthood in certain targeted services such as children’s and adult’s mental health services, sexual health services, SARCs and substance misuse to improve early identification and support, and data for commissioners.	Autumn 2016	DHSC	Completed

Routine enquiry of adverse childhood experiences, which included sexual violence and exploitation was piloted in Lancashire in three services – substance misuse, mental health, and sexual assault service, for people aged 16 and over. Routine enquiry was not fully implemented in all three of the services due to scalability issues and an independent evaluation found that clinicians wanted more intensive training and support to feel comfortable in adapting the approach. Therefore, DHSC in partnership with NHS England and The Children’s Society developed a training package, Seen and Heard, which aimed to upskill healthcare staff, so that they can spot the signs of sexual abuse, and are able to respond appropriately and compassionately.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
23	Consider with NHS Digital how redevelopment of health services data sets, such as emergency care data and mental health service data for children and adults, might be used to improve prevention and the healthcare response to violence against women and children.	March 2017	DHSC	Completed

We have been working with the NHS Digital to identify how to improve data collection. The Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) will improve the information collected on the number of incidences within Emergency Departments attended by vulnerable patients, which supports healthcare planning and policy development.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
24	Produce an updated version of ‘Responding to Domestic Abuse: A Resource for Health Professionals’.	2016	DHSC	Completed

The updated version^{[footnote 10]} was published in March 2017. The resource looks at how health professionals can support adults and young people over 16 who are experiencing domestic abuse, and dependent children in their households.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
25	Continue to deliver the FGM Prevention Programme, rolling out a new FGM Risk Indication System to improve NHS safeguarding systems and address the mental health needs of women and girls living with FGM.	Summer 2017	DHSC	Completed

We are committed to caring for survivors, protecting our girls and preventing future generations from having to undergo FGM. Under the FGM Prevention Programme, it is mandatory for healthcare professions to record FGM in patient’s healthcare records, and it sets out the procedure for reporting FGM concerns to social services, or the police, as part of their safeguarding measures. The Female Genital Mutilation Information Sharing system (FGM-IS) is a national system that allows a family history of FGM to be stored and shared onto the records of a girl under 18. This information can then be shared with relevant NHS healthcare professionals and administrative staff across departmental, organisational and geographical boundaries in England.

The FGM-IS system is available to all NHS organisations, and over 40 NHS Trusts have introduced the system, with further implementation underway.

Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
26	Work with partners to improve and communicate the evidence base on preventing violence against women and girls.	2020	DFID	On track

The UK is leading innovation and evidence on effective interventions to drive down global rates of VAWG. Our flagship ‘What Works to Prevent Violence’ programme, is developing and rolling out pioneering approaches, to prevent violence through 15 interventions across 12 countries in Africa and Asia. We are sharing emerging findings and lessons with a range of partners. This will be a global public good, and we will work with country governments, donors and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) everywhere to communicate this evidence base.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
27	Challenge traditional attitudes to sexual violence in conflict and work to end the stigma suffered by many survivors, including men and boys, which leaves them ostracised from society.	2020	FCO	On track

During the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, we, along with Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, launched the ‘Principles for Global Action: Preventing and Addressing Stigma Associated with Conflict-Related Sexual Violence’. It is a guide designed to raise awareness of conflict-related sexual violence; it is centred around addressing the problem of stigma by providing a universal set of principles to international partners surrounding conflict and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). We developed the guide in collaboration with over 120 experts, governments, NGOs, international bodies and civil society. In addition to this, we have provided funding for projects that aim to reduce the stigma against survivors, and children, born of sexual violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda.

Preventing online abuse and exploitation

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
28	Establish an official government working group to map out current issues, prevalence, initiatives and barriers to addressing gendered online abuse to improve understanding and co-ordinate the response to online manifestations of VAWG.	December 2016	GEO/HO	Completed

We have gone much further than ever before in working to tackle online harms. Following the Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper, we will be bringing forward an Online Harms White Paper, due to be published soon, which will set out several measures that tackle legal and illegal harms including online VAWG. We are also funding a Law Commission review of abusive online communications. This will explore whether the law meets the challenges the internet presents and will consider gendered abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
29	Publish the government response to our consultation on age verification mechanisms to restrict access to pornographic websites by those under 18 and set out next steps.	Summer 2016	DCMS	Completed

The Digital Economy Act 2017, introduces the requirement for commercial providers of online pornography to have robust age verification controls in place, to prevent children and young people under 18 years from accessing pornographic material.

The Act establishes a regulatory system, underpinned by civil sanctions, and establishes a power for the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to designate the age verification regulator. In February 2018, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) was officially designated as the age-verification regulator. Statutory Instruments (including the BBFC guidance) to introduce the new regulatory system have been laid for Parliamentary approval and we anticipate conclusion of the proceedings by the end of this year. The new system will come into effect in Spring 2019 to enable industry and the public to prepare for the changes.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
30	Continue to ensure victims of revenge pornography have access to bespoke support and advice about their right to have the images removed from websites.	April 2017	GEO/HO	Completed

The revenge porn helpline was launched to help tackle the problem of people sharing intimate images online, and to support victims. The helpline provides information to callers with what legal help is available and their right to have the images removed from websites.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
31	Work with law enforcement and online safety forums to analyse and understand the risks posed to women by online dating services and ensure appropriate safety advice is provided.	September 2016	HO	Completed

Together, with the National Crime Agency, we worked to raise awareness of existing safety advice for users of online dating sites.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
32	Explore options for using new technology to support victims, for example promoting the development of mobile phone apps to help victims of forced marriage and stalking.	December 2016	HO	On track

The Police Innovation Fund provided £1 million in funding for a new cyberstalking app, developed by the University of Bedfordshire’s National Centre for Cyberstalking.

The app has developed a digital risk assessment, training for officers as well as a mechanism for victims to robustly capture digital evidence to assist officers in stalking investigations. We are also providing further funding, through the VAWG Service Transformation Fund, to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria for a project to address cyberstalking. The pilot will be responsible for developing formal referral mechanisms, for cases where stalking is both present, and being enhanced, by the misuse of digital technology. The pilot team consists of two forensic investigators, an experienced detective and a specialist support worker.

Provisions of services – Government funding

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
33	Provide £40 million over the Spending Review period to support domestic abuse services including refuge provision and other accommodation-based services.	2016-2020	MHCLG	On track

In November 2018 we announced the 63 projects that would share £22 million to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse through accommodation-based services. This will support more than 25,000 survivors and their families, including over 2,200 additional beds in refuges and other safe accommodation. This follows our previous £20 million two-year 2016-2018 fund, inclusive of £1.1 million top-up funding, which supported 80 projects covering 258 local authorities across the country. Since 2015, we have also supported for two key projects, Routes to Support and No Woman Turned Away. Routes to Support (formerly UK Refuges online) helps victims, through the National Domestic Violence Helpline, who are looking for refuge to get additional help, and No Woman Turned Away provides additional caseworker support to women facing difficulties in accessing refuge. We are continuing to fund these vital projects in 2018-19. Through Imkaan, we will also build capacity and strengthen specialist BME organisations, to enable them to help reduce the impact of violence against BME women, including domestic abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
34	Provide funding for core services (IDVAs, ISVAs and MARACs).	March 2017	HO	Completed

The government provided core funding for Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs), Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) and Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) up until 2016-2017. From April 2017, wehave moved from a model of direct match-funding for individual posts to a model of supporting innovative community-based services through the £17 million VAWG Service Transformation Fund.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
35	Provide funding for national helplines.	March 2020	HO	On track

We have committed to funding VAWG helplines to provide effective advice and support victims. We have provided funding for the following helplines:

• National Domestic Violence Helpline
• Honour Based Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline
• Revenge Porn Helpline
• LGBT Helpline
• Male Victims Helpline
• Stalking Helpline
• Respect Helpline

In September 2018, we launched an open competition for the seven VAWG helplines, awarding up to £1.1 million of funding per annum on an initial grant period of April 2019 to March 2022.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
36	Continued funding for rape support services at current levels in 2016-17 and ensure this funding remains throughout the Spending Review period.	March 2020	MOJ	On track

In 2018 we announced increased funding for rape support services by 10%, and committed to three-year funding to provide greater sustainability for service providers. The competition was launched in December 2018 and successful applicants will be announced in 2019.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
37	Launch a VAWG service transformation fund to support innovation in local practice and improved local approaches to multi-agency working.	April 2017	HO	Completed

The government launched the £17 million VAWG Service Transformation Fund to aid, promote and embed the best local practice and ensure that early intervention and prevention become the norm. We are funding 41 projects spread across England and Wales.

Service Transformation

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
38	Establish a network of experts in VAWG to provide targeted support to local areas to improve development of local VAWG strategies, and support effective whole family approaches.	September 2016	HO	Completed

A network of experts was established through the ‘Systems Leaders Network’ and an event in February 2017, and we continue to raise awareness of best practice through the VAWG quarterly newsletter, stakeholder meetings, and through events with the Local Government Association and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioner (APCC). We will develop a new programme of engagement in 2019.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
39	Publish a National Statement of Expectations (NSE) to provide a framework for commissioning of VAWG services for local areas covering key elements of effective local commissioning practice.	May 2016	MHCLG/HO	Completed

The NSE[^11] was published in December 2016. We will be undertaking a review of the NSE to ensure that it remains up to date and relevant.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
40	Support wider service transformation by disseminating examples of good practice such as pooling budgets and developing a needs-based approach.	April 2017	HO	Completed

We have continued to disseminate examples of good practice, through the Systems Leaders Network event, the VAWG Commissioning Toolkit, VAWG Stakeholder Group meetings and a series of regional commissioning events. We have supported the Local Government Association and APCC to deliver a VAWG Service Transformation Fund learning event, that took place in January 2019.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
41	Identify ways to incentivise local government and local commissioners to support innovation including use of payment by results models and social impact bonds.	2017	HO	Work in Progress

This is being considered alongside the revised actions 52/53, to incentivise local areas to support victims of VAWG with complex needs.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
42	Work with stakeholders to develop agreed service standards that identify what ‘success’ looks like for VAWG services and consider how service providers, including commercial providers, should be held to account for the services they provide.	December 2016	HO	Completed

The National Statement of Expectations (NSE) sets out a framework for local areas, to help them ensure their response to VAWG issues is as collaborative, robust, and effective as it can be, so that all victims and survivors can get the help they need.

Commissioning of VAWG Services

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
43	Publish guidance and resources for commissioners to help develop an effective approach to VAWG service provision.	May 2016	HO	Completed

Alongside the NSE we published the VAWG Commissioning Toolkit.12 The purpose of the toolkit is to ensure that professionals can work together to provide an effective commissioning approach, to anyone affected by all forms of VAWG.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
44	Develop a five-year strategy for the commissioning of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs).	July 2016	NHS England	Completed

The ‘Strategic Direction For Sexual Assault And Abuse Services’^{[footnote 13]} was published in April 2018. The five-year Strategy outlines how services for victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse, in all health and care settings, need to evolve between now and 2023. It sets out six core principles that the NHS England will focus on to reduce the inequalities experienced.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
45	Continue to invest in service improvements in SARCs and develop national performance indicators to quality assure and bench mark services across England.	April 2016	NHS England	Completed

We have developed a series of national performance indicators (SARC Indicators of Performances (SARCIPs)), which help benchmark performance and to identify variation in practice, so that resources can be focused to help improve service quality for the areas most in need of support.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
46	Undertake a deep dive to get an accurate picture of SARC commissioning and provision across England.	April 2016	NHS England	Completed

Supported by the SARCIPS data, work has been undertaken to establish current gaps in pathways to support future commissioning decisions.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
47	Undertake engagement events with CCGs to ensure their understanding of their commissioning role for therapeutic care for victims of rape and sexual abuse.	April – October 2016	NHS England	Completed

Six regional engagement events for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) were held during 2016, which were attended by CCG commissioners, representatives from social care, the police and the third sector. During 2018, over 40 semi-structured telephone interviews were undertaken with safeguarding leads from CCGs across England, to discuss the objectives outlined within the sexual assault and abuse services agenda, and to understand what was being commissioned by CCGs in response to the needs of victims and survivors.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
48	Promote best practice and standards in the local commissioning approach by agreeing principles for perpetrator programmes and interventions.	December 2016	HO	Completed

The VAWG Commissioning Toolkit and the NSE set out what local areas need to do, to ensure their response is robust and effective. Learning from the VAWG Service Transformation Fund projects will also be disseminated through events and an online repository.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
49	Republish specification 30 defining the commissioning roles and responsibilities for SARCs.	April 2016	DHSC/ NHSE/PHE	Completed

The Strategic Direction For Sexual Assault And Abuse Services sets the direction of the services for victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
50	Support local areas to better calculate the costs of VAWG and the impact on their budgets by reissuing an updated version of our ‘ready reckoner’.	Summer 2016	HO	Work in progress

We have developed an estimate of the economic and societal cost of domestic abuse to be £66 billion each year, and was published alongside the Domestic Abuse White Paper. We will consider next steps for how we might use this to support local commissioners in their calculations.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
51	Promote FGM resources available to health professionals to share with patients to increase awareness of FGM support and services available for onward referral and explore and agree with NHS England a framework for the national provision of FGM services.	March 2018	DHSC	Completed

As part of the FGM Prevention Programme, we have produced resources for healthcare professionals to help them understand, safeguard and care for women and girls affected by FGM. In April 2018, the resources were compiled and updated to provide a single location to access all support and guidance.^{[footnote 14]} NHS England have also published ‘Commissioning services to meet the needs of women and girls with Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)’, ^{[footnote 15]} which include practical recommendations and guidance for commissioners. This was presented at workshops across England in March 2018, and continues to be used.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
52/53	To increase diversity of provision and access to services for victims with complex needs by (1) developing a cross-government approach based on a robust understanding of what works, (2) promoting new forms of services, (3) investing in locally-led approaches to service delivery through a new MHCLG fund for domestic abuse services and (4) exploring the use of social investment initiatives.	Initial deadline: April 2017. New deadline: April 2020	MHCLG	Work in progress

We have engaged with the voluntary sector, local authorities and experts to understand the nature of the issue, and the range of services supporting victims with complex needs, and recognise the range of specific challenges at play. As a result, we have amended the action set out in the 2016 Strategy to better reflect this. In December 2016, we launched a two-year £20 million fund to support victims of domestic abuse; of which 30 projects specifically focused on supporting victims with complex needs. In July 2018, we launched a further £18.8 million fund where provision for complex needs was a key criterion. Our updated ‘Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services’, launched with the £18.8 million fund, sets out what local areas need to do to ensure their response to domestic abuse is as effective as it can be, and is clear that local areas should respond to the needs of domestic abuse victims with complex needs.

We are reviewing the provision of domestic abuse services, including refuge, and are considering support for victims with complex needs as part of this review.

Improving data

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
54	Work with other government departments, the College of Policing, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and domestic abuse organisations to develop a data set relating to domestic abuse which will enable more thorough analysis of how domestic abuse is dealt with in a force area.	June 2016	HO	Completed

The Office for National Statistics published the Domestic Abuse in England and Wales Statistical bulletin in December 2016 (for year ending March 2016), November 2017 (for year ending March 2017), and November 2018^{[footnote 16]} (for year ending March 2018).

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
55	Develop an approach to the collection of data recorded by police forces in relation to HBV, FM and FGM in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Consideration will be given to this data being recorded as part of the Annual Data Return.	June 2016	HO	On track

To improve our understanding of the prevalence of so-called ‘honour-based violence’, including forced marriage, we have amended the police Annual Data Requirement (ADR). This is to enable police forces to record, on a voluntary basis, where a crime has been committed, in the context of preserving the ‘honour’ of a family or community.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
56	Work with Women’s Aid to investigate the capabilities of the UK Refuges Online (UKROL) for data collection and consider how to take forward the findings to contribute to broader data improvement on VAWG services.	2020	MHCLG/HO	Completed

We are continuing to fund the Routes to Support and No Woman Turned Away in 2018-19, and evidence from these projects is being considered in our review of domestic abuse services.

Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
57	Ensure that the UK’s humanitarian action, including both assistance and protection, prevents and responds to violence against women and girls.	2020	DFID	On track

Over the course of 2018, vital evidence has been emerging from the UK’s investment in research on how best to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in emergencies, including conflicts and disasters (a component of the ‘What Works to Prevent Violence’ programme). We, along with the international community, will use the findings of this research to improve responses to crises and ensure that women and girls’ protection needs are addressed. Since 2013-14, we have provided £31 million in funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including a three-year grant of £26 million (2015-18) to strengthen the prevention of, and response to, sexual and gender-based violence and provide Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, in all accessible areas of Syria.

The project aims to ensure that women and girls, boys and men, in Syria are safer, and that survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) are provided with assistance to help them to recover. It seeks to do this, through improving the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of survivors, and ensuring that people in need of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, are supported by an effective and co-ordinated response at the national and regional level.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
58	Support the strengthening of political and legal systems in favour of survivors of violence overseas.	2020	DFID	On track

Through our security and justice programmes, we are strengthening political and legal systems in favour of survivors. For example, our £9 million support for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy has, in the Middle East and North Africa region, helped a coalition of women parliamentarians get its draft convention on combating violence against women accepted for formal consultation by the Arab League. In Nigeria, UK Aid has enabled the creation of ‘Sexual Assault Referral Clinics’ – safe havens for women who have survived sexual violence, providing expert medical and psychological support, and assistance in seeking justice. These clinics were rolled out to other states, with state governments providing medical staff and facilities, ensuring local buy-in and sustainability.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
59	Continue to scale up, including through others, provisioning of services for survivors.	2020	DFID	On track

UK leadership has seen us increase our resources, expand our portfolio of programmes across more than 30 countries, and push for increased international action, particularly domestic violence, which is often overlooked despite being the most endemic form of violence against women and girls. We are contributing £21 million to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which provides grants to women’s rights organisations and other small grassroots organisations, to support innovative approaches across multiple countries.

Through multi-donor funds, we are working with organisations across the world to tackle FGM, child marriage and domestic abuse, improve access to services such as legal assistance and healthcare, and strengthen laws that protect them. We will now focus on identifying and scaling up the most successful programmes, where tackling violence against women and girls is the primary or sole focus. We will also work to systematically and effectively integrate interventions, to prevent and respond to this violence into large, multi-sector programmes, such as humanitarian response, health and education programmes.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
60	Further training on the International Protocol in Burma (Myanmar), DRC, Iraq, Syria and Sri Lanka.	2020	FCO	On track

We launched the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, at the 2014 Global Summit. Since then, we have worked with governments, the judiciary, police and civil society in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Nepal and Uganda to provide training on the International Protocol, to help them gather evidence and bring prosecutions against perpetrators of sexual violence.

We launched the second edition of the International Protocol in March 2017, which contains further guidance on investigating sexual violence against children and men, trauma, and analysing patterns of evidence.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
61	Build the capacity of grassroots organisations and human rights defenders to support survivors to access local justice and other support programmes.	2020	FCO	On track

We have conducted capacity building work in countries such as the Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Syria and Uganda. In addition to this, we are supporting countries in amending their legislation, improving the capacity of judges and prosecutors, as well as providing funding for projects that support survivors that are going through the local court process.

Partnership working – Multi agency working

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
62	Through the VAWG peer support network, work with local areas to streamline multi-agency structures, reduce bureaucracy for local agencies and encourage collaborative local commitment to tackling all safeguarding issues.	April 2017	HO	Completed

We are delivering this through action 40 above.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
63	Implement HMICFRS recommendation (from their report into the police response to domestic abuse) for further multi-agency inspections to consider how individual services contribute to keeping victims safe, the quality of local partnerships and the ways in which joint working is scrutinised.	April 2017	HO	Completed

In 2016-17, inspectorates Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), HMICFRS, and HMI Probation (HMIP) carried out a Joint Targeted Area Inspection to examine the multi-agency response to children living with domestic abuse. The report, which was published in September 2017, considered the extent to which, in the six local authorities inspected, children’s social care, health professionals, the police and probation officers were effective in safeguarding children who live with domestic abuse. HMICFRS will publish a further thematic report on the police response to domestic abuse in due course.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
64	Deliver HMICFRS recommendation to commission a ‘task and finish group’ to evaluate the effectiveness of the various models in place for MASHs and CRUs in terms of the outcomes achieved for victims of domestic abuse through the National Oversight Group.	Spring 2017	HO	Work in progress

In our response to the Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse consultation, we have committed to monitoring the implementation of multi-agency approaches to domestic abuse, and disseminating learning to partners across the country.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
65	Publish updated guidance on best practice identified through Domestic Homicide Review quality assurance panels and support local areas to track how and when recommendations from domestic homicide reviews are implemented.	April 2017	HO	Completed

We published key findings from the analysis of Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR),^{[footnote 17]} in December 2016, which identified common themes in domestic homicide and made recommendations on how local areas can use this information to provide a better multi-agency response to domestic abuse. We also published and updated the DHR statutory guidance,^{[footnote 18]} which highlighted the need for a holistic approach when considering the facts presented by agencies and professionals. A further update to the statutory guidance is planned for Spring 2019.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
66	Work with NHS England, Public Health England, Health Education England and other partners to disseminate the findings from the policy research relating to violence against women and children and good practice arising from grants to third sector organisations.	March 2017	DHSC	Work in progress

We are working with partners, including the third sector, to share the findings and good practice, from the policy research through networks and developing resources that can be disseminated.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
67	Share learning from the approach Wales is taking to oversee local areas’ grip on tackling VAWG to help inform local approaches.	March 2017	HO	Completed

We have shared the learning, from the approach that Wales has taken, to oversee local areas addressing VAWG. Information has been disseminated through stakeholder groups and newsletters.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
68	Carry out an urgent review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and take forward plans to centralise serious case reviews so that lessons from serious incidents can be learned more quickly and effectively.	March 2016	DFE	Completed

We responded to the Wood review of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) in May 2016. The review set out recommendations to replace LSCBs with safeguarding and child death review partners. The Children and Social Work Act 2017, places a new duty on police, health and local authorities to work together, to agree safeguarding and child death review arrangements for the local area. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, will consider all cases where a child has been seriously injured, or died, as a result of abuse and/or neglect, and commission reports that have significant national lessons. Safeguarding partners will publish local learning reviews. All changes will be in place by Autumn 2020, when LSCBs and Serious Case Reviews will cease to exist.

Making VAWG everyone’s business

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
69	Fund a training project for Housing Officers, to be delivered by the National Practitioner Support Service (NPSS), and the women’s sector, Safe Lives and Women’s Aid. The project will train 336 frontline LA staff from a range of LAs in how to identify and respond to domestic violence and abuse.	Summer 2016	MHCLG	Completed

We have provided over £140,000 funding for the NPSS, in collaboration with the women’s sector, to deliver training for housing officers to help them recognise and respond to domestic abuse. Through the Tampon Tax Fund, we have also funded the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance to raise awareness of consistent, pro-active and safe responses to domestic abuse, and clarify the responsibilities of private landlords towards tenants and their children who are experiencing domestic abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
70	Support the development of Bystander Programmes such as that developed by UWE and PHE, and disseminate good practice.	June 2017	HO	Completed

Hestia, a domestic abuse service provider, has delivered awareness training events in partnership with UK SAYS NO MORE on domestic violence and sexual assault to over 130 young men aged between 13-24 in 2016. Prior to the event, training of Peer Ambassadors took place with a select number of students from universities that discussed gender stereotypes, bystander challenges, and ways to spot and support someone who is suffering from abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
71	Continue to raise awareness of domestic violence and abuse in the private sector and encourage employers to develop robust workplace polices to support employees who may be victims of domestic abuse, violence or stalking.	Summer 2017	HO	Completed

Through the Tampon Tax Fund we have funded Hestia and the corporate alliance to pilot their ‘Tools for the Job’ project, which will develop a new innovative cross- partnership programme, by putting employers at the heart of tackling domestic abuse. The project will provide them with the tools they need, to help recognise and prevent domestic abuse, be prepared to receive disclosures and actively respond to and support employees who are experiencing or perpetuating the abuse.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
72	Continue to encourage organisations and private sector companies to sign up to the Domestic Abuse Responsibility Pledge.	Summer 2017	HO	Work in progress

Hestia’s ‘Tools for the Job’ pilot programme, aims to transform the way that employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland deal with domestic abuse; it will give some of the UK’s largest employers access to bespoke support on domestic abuse affecting their employees. Internationally

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
73	Ensure strong UK contribution to support delivery of implementing the specific targets on VAWG, FGM and Child Early Forced Marriage (CEFM) within the Global Goals including through high- level partnerships with key developing countries.	2020	DFID	On track

The UK has made the largest ever donor investment to support the Africa-led movement to end FGM in 17 countries across Africa. Since 2013, we have helped over 8000 communities, representing 24.5 million people, pledge to abandon FGM. The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to end CEFM. To date, our flagship programme has reached over 750,000 girls with schooling initiatives, skills training, and girls’ clubs helping girls take back control and choice over their bodies and their futures. Around 1.6 million people, including community and faith leaders, have participated in initiatives designed to change attitudes and practices relating to girls’ rights.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
74	Continue to work with likeminded countries to strengthen the international system as we work to end all forms of VAWG in all settings.	2020	DFID	On track

We played a leading role in establishing dedicated targets within the Sustainable Development Goals, on ending all forms of violence against women and girls. We continue to lead globally on growing the evidence base, influencing multilateral partners to do more, and pushing for more evidence on scalable interventions. We have contributed £21 million to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which provides grants to women’s rights organisations and other small grassroots organisations. UK Aid support is already helping the fund to reach over 110 initiatives around the world. We are also engaging with the Spotlight Initiative – a multi-partner fund initiated jointly by the EU and UN which comprises of €500 million in EU funds and aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
75	Work with other governments, particularly the group of PSVI Champion countries, the UN, AU and other multilateral organisations and NGOs to drive forward the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.	2020	FCO	On track

We continue to work closely with PSVI champion governments, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN bodies, and the NGO community and civil society to broaden the profile of the PSVI and deliver its objectives. The UK will host a PSVI international meeting in 2019 five years on from the UK-hosted Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict that was held in 2014, it will celebrate progress, address remaining challenges, and secure commitments to action. Areas of focus include, overcoming accountability challenges, increasing service provision for all survivors of sexual violence and children born of sexual violence (CBoSV), and working with militaries, faith leaders and the media.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
76	Monitor the implementation of the new domestic abuse offence of coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship and ensure professionals have the tools and expertise needed in this area.	April 2017	HO	Completed

We have been monitoring the use of the controlling and coercive behaviour offence, through the number of prosecutions that have been made to date; in the year ending March 2018, a total of 9,053 offences of coercive control were recorded by the police and prosecutions for 960 offences were commenced at magistrates’ courts (a three- fold increase on the previous year). As part of this, we want to ensure that the police have received training about the new offence.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
77	Continue working with international partners to change discriminatory laws and practices and to promote adoption of legislation to criminalise abusive behaviour and better protect victims.	2020	FCO	On track

We have been working with the British Embassies/High Commissions and international organisations, such as the UN, the EU, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth, to eliminate VAWG and bring an end to harmful practices. In April 2018, at the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, the government announced an ambitious £5.6 million two-year programme, with a wide remit to provide support to Commonwealth governments, looking to reform a number of types of legalisation that disproportionately affect women and girls and the LGBT community. This includes, but is not limited to, the reform or implementation of legislation dealing with anti- discrimination, domestic violence, hate crime, sexual offences, and violence against women and girls.

Supporting victims and female offenders

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
78	Continue to explore ways that vulnerable victims and witnesses can give evidence from a location away from the court and to test the use of pre- recorded cross examination (s.28) for intimidated witnesses who are victims of sexual offences and modern slavery offences.	2020	MOJ	On track

We are committed that child victims and victims of sexual violence can be cross-examined before their trial without the distress of having to appear in court (known as s.28). It is intended to roll out s.28 in all Crown Courts for vulnerable witnesses under 18, and those lacking mental capacity, and at the same time, to test s.28 for intimidated witnesses who are the victims of sexual offences and modern slavery offences in Leeds, Liverpool and Kingston upon Thames Crown Court centres.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
79	Review the implementation and impact of legislative changes in Northern Ireland which introduce the ‘Nordic’ approach to prostitution (which criminalises all purchasing of sex and decriminalises all selling).	April 2018	HO	On track

Following the government’s response to the Home Affairs Select Committee report on prostitution, we have provided £150,000 to fund research into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales. The University of Bristol is undertaking this research; we anticipate that the findings from the research will be available in Spring 2019. The Northern Irish Government have a statutory commitment to review the impact of the new offence of paying for sex after three years from introduction. A combination of the commissioned research and the review being undertaken in Northern Ireland, will help to inform any changes to policy or legislation around prostitution and sex work.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
80	Support female offenders who are victims of violence and abuse to receive the interventions they need to stop offending and move into recovery for example by considering the models under development in Greater Manchester, Wales and London.	2020	HMPPS	On track

In June 2018, we published the Female Offender Strategy,^{[footnote 19]} which sets out our vision and plan to improve outcomes for women in the community and custody. This strategy sets out the government’s commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders, driven by our vision to see fewer women entering the criminal justice system; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and better conditions for those in custody. Alongside this, we announced the launch of a new competition for £3.5 million grant funding over 2018-19 and 2019-20. This funding will support the development of multi-agency, Whole System Approaches, and community services working with female offenders, such as women’s centres. This is part of a total £5 million investment in community provision for female offenders.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
81	Roll out a new helpline for female offenders who have been victims of violence or abuse so that they can obtain support while in custody and on release following the pilot helpline delivered at HMP Holloway.	2020	HMPPS	Completed

The Domestic Violence Helpline is provided by Women’s Aid and Refuge and is available to women in all prisons, and these prisons have been provided with promotional materials to advertise the service.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
82	Explore options to pilot joint police and mental health approaches to tackling stalking perpetrators, considering evidence from the Hampshire stalking clinic and the National Stalking Clinic.	April 2017	HO	Work in progress

In 2016-17, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) undertook its first inspection into harassment and stalking. The aim of the inspection was to assess the effectiveness of police forces and the CPS in dealing with cases involving harassment and stalking, and to examine the service received by victims. We are working with the police and the CPS to address the recommendations from the HMICFRS to ensure appropriate guidance and training is in place. We are also engaging with partners, the police and the third sector to look at ways that we can strengthen the management of serial offenders, including through perpetrator treatment programmes. For example, the Home Office-funded Multi-agency Stalking Intervention Programme (MASIP) aims to reduce recidivism in stalking perpetrators through proactive and preventative strategies, including, where appropriate, through specific mental health support. Learning from the two-year project will impact on how all police forces improve services for vulnerable victims and reduce the burden of stalking through lower rates of recidivism.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
83	Consider and respond to HMICFRS recommendation to initiate a review of the existing legislative framework for all forms of HBV, including considering whether new legislation should be introduced.	June 2016	HO/MOJ	Work in progress

We have not identified any form of honour-based violence that is not already covered by existing legislation. However, legislative changes proposed in other contexts may also be applicable to honour-based violence. For example, as required by the Istanbul Convention, the draft Domestic Abuse Bill includes measures to extend extraterritorial jurisdiction over certain VAWG offences, when committed abroad by a UK national or resident. This may be relevant in cases involving honour-based violence, which often have an international dimension.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
84	Consider and respond to HMICFRS recommendation to develop a national process to co-ordinate the collection and dissemination of all FMPOs and FGMPOs and other relevant orders.	June 2016	HO/MOJ	Completed

We have considered the recommendations from the HMICFRS report. We already make available public statistics on the number of applications and orders granted for both FMPOs and FGMPOs as part of the Family Court Statistics Quarterly series.^{[footnote 20]} In addition to this, following concerns expressed by police forces that they were not being notified of the existence of every FMPO or FGMPO granted by the court, a pilot commenced in July 2018 to ensure that the police are served an electronic copy of the order, once it has been served on a respondent (including orders which had been extended, varied or discharged). The pilot will be evaluated once completed.

Police response

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
85	Continue to implement the HMICFRS recommendations to improve the police response to domestic violence and abuse through the National Oversight Group chaired by the Home Secretary.	April 2017	HO	On track

The National Oversight Group on domestic abuse, chaired by the Home Secretary, continues to meet regularly. HMICFRS will publish a further thematic report on the police response to domestic abuse in due course.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
86	Ensure that the views of victims of domestic abuse are incorporated routinely and consistently into national monitoring arrangements on the police response to domestic violence and abuse through the introduction of the Service Improvement Survey.	May 2016	HO	Completed

The Service Improvement Survey was launched through the Annual Data Requirement in April 2016. HMICFRS will be inspecting forces on its implementation; they have identified that several police forces are yet to commence the survey.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
87	Deliver new training on domestic violence and abuse for first responders, supervisors and coaches which reinforces the need for evidence gathering to apprehend serial perpetrators.	2020	COP	On track

Work is progressing in this area to train the police workforce. The training is available nationally and the number of individuals that have been trained continue to increase. As part of our efforts, we will also invest £250,000 in police training on coercive control to pilot how effective the Domestic Abuse Matters change programme, developed by the charity SafeLives and the College of Policing.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
88	Publish new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on stalking and harassment including new guidance on the use of Police Information Notices (PINs).	Spring 2016	COP	Work in progress

The College of Policing (COP), is working closely with Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, Lead for Stalking and Harassment, to deliver work around the APP on Stalking and Harassment. Following the HMICFRS report, which includes the recommendation to stop the use of issuing PINs, work is ongoing to determine the appropriate approach through a series of planned pilots. Products to help inform the police workforce of the changes in the guidance, including how to differentiate between stalking and harassment, and effective initial response, will be published in due course.

The College published advice for initial responders to Stalking and Harassment for consultation in November 2018, and will be followed by further advice products for secondary investigation, supervision and management and leadership in early 2019. We will not publish guidance on PINs as HMICFRS recommended ceasing their use and the NPCC will endorse this. The College will monitor the impact of withdrawing PINs before considering introducing a new approach.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
89	Review the guidance to forces to make sure that it is clear to officers the expectation about using body-worn video (BWV) to gather evidence including to support investigations of domestic abuse incidents.	March 2017	COP	Completed

The COP has provided guidance to promote the use of BWV by police forces in investigations relating to domestic abuse. This has included through the Authorised Professional Practice on BWV and domestic abuse, domestic abuse toolkits, evidence checklists and training.

CPS response

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
90	Review policies, guidance, training and best practice across VAWG strands emphasising the need to ensure an offender-centric approach and to demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the needs of vulnerable victims.	2020	CPS	Completed

The CPS continually reviews its policies, guidance and best practice across the VAWG strands and will continue to do so in the future. The CPS has:

• published the CPS VAWG Strategy 2017-2020;
• published a public statement on male victims with an associated action plan, which reviews relevant VAWG related guidance to ensure appropriate consideration of issues that are faced by male victims;
• developed and is implementing a National Disclosure Improvement Plan, developed jointly with the police;
• developed psychological evidence toolkit for use in rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) cases; and
• issued guidance with the NPCC on ensuring appropriate police referrals of domestic abuse cases.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
91	Provide regular oversight, including bi-annually from the Director of Public Prosecutions, of VAWG prosecutions through regular performance reviews of CPS casework.	Bi-annual	CPS	Completed

The CPS continues to report on performance on a bi-annual basis, and oversees performance through regular review meetings. They will be implementing a more robust, and effective system of oversight.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
92	Ensure transparency and accountability of VAWG prosecutions by the annual publication of a CPS VAWG Crime Report.	Annually	CPS	Completed

In September 2018, the CPS published its eleventh edition of the VAWG Annual Report for 2017-18.^{[footnote 21]} It is an analysis of the key prosecution issues in each VAWG strand: domestic abuse; stalking; harassment; rape; sexual offences; forced marriage; so-called ‘honour-based’ violence; female genital mutilation; child abuse; human trafficking for sexual exploitation; prostitution; and pornography.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
93	Continue to focus on harmful traditional practices including forced marriage, honour-based violence and female genital mutilation.	2020	CPS	Completed

The CPS has developed an ‘honour-based’ violence and forced marriage work plan. As part of this, they have implemented a quarterly and bi-annual data monitoring process for these crimes. They have delivered masterclasses in partnership with the third sector and external representatives. The CPS has also appointed FGM lead prosecutors across every area. The CPS is also working with the police and focus groups to collate best practice across these harmful practices.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
94	Address ways with others in the Criminal Justice System to improve the level of support provided to victims of VAWG crimes throughout the criminal justice process including through Specialist Domestic Violence Courts and the work of Victim Liaison Units.	2020	CPS	Completed

The CPS has been involved with a number of projects across the CJS to improve the level of support provided to VAWG victims, and will be implementing a programme of reform entitled the ‘Domestic Abuse Best Practice Framework’ to reinvigorate Specialist Domestic Violence Courts following the Criminal Justice Board deep-dive.

Ref	Action	Delivery date	Lead	Status
95	Engage with stakeholders to inform the work of the CPS on VAWG including through quarterly meetings of the VAWG External Consultation Group, the Community Accountability Forum and, locally, through the work of the Equality, Diversity and Community Engagement Managers.	2020	CPS	Completed

The CPS has continued to meet regularly with the groups outlined within this action. The CPS has undertaken a national inclusion stocktake, which considers its structures, governance, policies and practices on VAWG, in order to, ensure that they are engaging as effectively as possible with internal and external stakeholders. As a result, a national Inclusion and Community Engagement Strategy has been developed and published. Regular newsletters also continue to be issued.

1. Details about the campaign can be found here: https://www.dfechildprotection-munroforster.com/ ↩

2. https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/curriculum-and-resources/resources/disrespect-nobody-teaching- resources-preventing ↩

3. Link to the resource pack can be found here: http://mediasmart.uk.com/resources/teaching-resources/body- image ↩

4. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-violence-strategy ↩

5. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-disclosure-scheme-assessment-of-national-roll-out ↩

6. [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575278/ Stalking_Order_Consultation_Response_-Final_to_Publish.pdf](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575278/ Stalking_Order_Consultation_Response-_Final_to_Publish.pdf) ↩

7. https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/stalkingprotection.html ↩

8. https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/safeguarding-children-young-people-roles-competences-healthcare-staff ↩

9. https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-007069 ↩

10. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-a-resource-for-health-professionals ↩

11. https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/strategic-direction-for-sexual-assault-and-abuse-services/ ↩

12. www.england.nhs.uk/fgm ↩

13. https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/commissioning-services-to-meet-the-needs-of-women-and-girls-with- female-genital-mutilation-fgm/ ↩

14. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/ domesticabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2018 ↩

15. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-homicide-review-lessons-learned ↩

16. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-statutory-guidance-for-the-conduct-of-domestic-homicide- reviews ↩

17. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/female-offender-strategy ↩

18. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly ↩

19. https://www.cps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/publications/cps-vawg-report-2018.pdf ↩