How the Government plans to deliver on its commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade “remains unclear,” three prominent experts on the subject have warned.
However – in an article published by The University of Manchester’s policy engagement unit, Policy@Manchester – Professor David Gadd, Dr Caroline Miles and Professor Barry Godfrey argue that achieving this goal “is not the mission impossible it might appear.”
They point out that many new forms of gender-based violence (GBV) have emerged in recent years – some digital, like ‘revenge porn’ – some physical, like spiking – and many blending the virtual and the real – like stalking.
Further, according to Crime Survey for England and Wales figures from 2022/23, 27% of women said they had been victims of sexual assault – up sharply from 19.9% in 2013/14.
“The standard solutions to tackle VAWG – more policing, bringing perpetrators to justice, imprisoning high risk high harm predators – are unlikely to dent these troubling statistics,” the academics write. “Only 1 in 23 domestic abuse offences and less than 3 in 100 rapes recorded by the police result in a conviction. Moreover, the vast majority of GBV is never reported to the police.”
Gadd, Miles and Godfrey believe that the way to “shift the dial” on this issue is to identify repeat offenders and understand what could be done at earlier stages in their lives to prevent them becoming so dangerous.
“Research, along with the findings of domestic homicide reviews, routinely reveals histories of complex trauma in the lives of the most dangerous men, deriving often from experiences in childhood, institutional care and custody, and contained precariously by the consumption of alcohol, prescription drugs and illicit substances,” they explain. “Many perpetrators have also experienced seeing their mothers physically and/or sexually abused by fathers and stepfathers whom they wish to be nothing like.”
In a series of policy recommendations, the University of Manchester academics advocate “long-term investment in trauma-informed preventative work with boys and young men” as a means of enabling the Government to achieve its mission to halve VAWG. But they add: “This needs to be done in the context of wider public debate about men’s behaviour at home, in public spaces and in the workplace.”
Gadd, Miles and Godfrey also highlight emerging evidence which suggests that the attitudes of men and boys, and among subgroups likely to contain higher percentages of repeat perpetrators, can be improved “through well designed social media interventions.”
They write: “A core challenge is how to sustain those conversations long enough that resistance is worked through to the point that opposition on the grounds that ‘not all men’ rape, stalk, or coercively control is turned into a rallying cry to ensure even fewer men do.”
The authors underline the importance of “political leadership to engender societal level change” if the Government target is to be met. “Resourcing, upskilling and supporting the criminal justice, education, health and VCFSE sector will be important,” they argue. “But this will only work if we also have the difficult national conversation that is long overdue.”
They conclude: “We must recognise that telling men what they want to hear – that they are okay because they are nothing like the really bad guys – is not the same as exploring with them what they might need to ensure the women they work with, live with, and care about no longer have to endure the ‘national emergency’ that reflects current levels of violence against women and girls.”
‘How to halve violence against women and girls,’ by Professor David Gadd, Dr Caroline Miles and Professor Barry Godfrey is available to read on the Policy@Manchester website.
