Violence Against Women and Girls: Progress or Promises?

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is not a new issue, but in recent years it has moved firmly into the public spotlight. Media coverage, first-hand accounts, and high-profile failures across the criminal justice system have forced uncomfortable but necessary conversations. In 2026, the question is no longer whether change is needed — it is whether the changes being promised are actually making a difference.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/0e694c_ec473c28eb474e39a3d9435f9df6cfa3/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls

This question sits at the heart of both my previous professional background as a detective and my current role teaching policing and criminology students at university. I have seen VAWG from multiple angles: in live investigations under pressure, and later in the classroom, where future practitioners try to make sense of a system that often feels slow, complex, and difficult to navigate for those affected by abuse

Scrutiny and confidence in the system

Public scrutiny of police and prosecution responses to VAWG has intensified. Charging rates for sexual offences, long investigations, and cases collapsing before trial are frequently highlighted in the media. For people reporting harm, these issues shape whether they feel listened to, supported, and willing to stay engaged with the justice process.

This concern is backed up by inspection evidence. Recent Peel reports by HMICFRS have repeatedly raised concerns about police engagement with survivors of abuse. While commitment at a strategic level is often strong, the lived experience on the ground is inconsistent. Communication is sometimes poor, updates are delayed, and safeguarding responses from key agencies can feel fragmented. In short, good intentions are not always matched by good practice.

During my time as a detective, I saw this play out regularly. Cases rarely fell apart because the harm was unclear. More often, they faltered because the process became overwhelming. Delays, repeated accounts, intrusive digital evidence requests, and uncertainty about outcomes all added pressure. Many people disengaged not because they no longer wanted accountability, but because the system felt unresponsive and draining.

That loss of confidence remains one of the most serious challenges facing the criminal justice system.. For cases I was investigating it was a constant and vital requirement to keep complainants up to date with even the smallest developments.

And that matters. Because justice delayed often becomes justice denied, and the impact ripples far beyond the courtroom.

New strategies, familiar commitments

The Crown Prosecution Service Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2025–2030 sets out clear aims: improving charging decisions, strengthening engagement, using specialist prosecutors, and reducing the number of cases that fall out of the system. It is a serious and well-structured document, and it acknowledges many of the long-standing issues raised by practitioners and campaigners.

Alongside this, the UK government’s VAWG strategy on GOV.UK places greater emphasis on protecting children and young people from misogyny and abuse. It recognises the early influence of online content, peer culture, and harmful gender norms in shaping attitudes well before adulthood.

In February 2026, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) added an important digital dimension with its report Addressing Online Harms to Women and Girls. It highlighted emerging threats such as AI-enabled abuse, “nudification” technologies, and tools like Grok that can accelerate harassment and exploitation. The message was clear: online harm is evolving faster than regulation and enforcement.

The resource gap no strategy can ignore

One issue runs through all of this: money and capacity. Police forces, prosecutors, specialist support services, and third-sector organisations are all operating under sustained financial pressure. Peel inspections have consistently highlighted high workloads, limited specialist capacity, and stretched safeguarding teams. The same is true of support services, many of which rely on short-term funding despite dealing with long-term harm.

Strategies can set direction, but they cannot replace staffing, time, or specialist expertise. Without sustained investment, expectations placed on officers and partner agencies risk becoming unrealistic — and disappointment becomes inevitable.

This is something students often grasp quickly. They understand the ambition of policy. What they struggle with is why, despite repeated strategies and reviews, the same issues continue to surface year after year.

From policy to practice

One lesson I always emphasise in teaching is that criminal justice is not just about rules and frameworks — it is about people. A system can be lawful and still feel unfair. It can be well-meaning and still fail those it is meant to protect.

The risk with current VAWG strategies is not that they are misguided, but that they remain too far removed from everyday experience. If engagement remains inconsistent and support services remain under-resourced, confidence will continue to erode — regardless of how strong the policy language sounds.

So, progress or promises?

There has been real progress in recognising the scale and seriousness of Violence Against Women and Girls. There is more honesty about failure, more willingness to name misogyny, and greater attention to digital harms.

But progress will ultimately be judged by outcomes: better engagement, more consistent decision-making, and systems that people trust enough to stay with.

Until then, there is a real risk that we continue to offer promises of progress, rather than progress itself. Closing the gap between strategy, resources, and lived experience remains one of the most urgent challenges facing policing, prosecution, and partner agencies in 2026.

Ken Kirwan: Editor Eyes on Crime/Ambassador for White Ribbon