News | Press Release

19 July 2024

Refuge responds to HMICFRS State of Policing Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2023 report

Responding to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) State of Policing Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2023 report, Refuge Policy and Public Affairs Officer Amy Bowdrey, said:

 

“The report published today by the inspectorate worryingly shows that the police are ‘struggling to get the basics right’ when it comes to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Although there has been a national focus on improving standards within policing, with policing renewing its focus on VAWG after it was made a Strategic Policing Requirement, it is evident that there is still much work to be done.

Whilst the inspectorate notes that generally levels of crime are ‘on a long-term downward trajectory’ this has not been the case for violence against women and girls, which remains a hidden and under-reported crime. There has been a large focus on the police’s attempts to ‘rebuild trust’ in how they respond to VAWG over the last couple of years. We know that the reality for survivors is that too many are still feeling failed by the system at an institutional level.
Many women and girls still lack trust and confidence in the police. Refuge’s YouGov polling from earlier this year showed:
  •  53% of women said that ‘the police had made not much or no progress in addressing problems of sexism and misogyny among police officers over the last year’
  • 39% said they had ‘not much or no trust in the police to handle the issue of violence against women and girls’
  • a quarter of women (25%) said their ‘trust in the police to handle violence against women and girls has gone down over the last year.’

The report notes that VAWG cannot be addressed through law enforcement alone, while this is the case, it does have a key role in tackling domestic abuse. Any woman that feels failed by the police after reporting serious crimes like domestic abuse, rape, or another form of VAWG, is one too many, and we know these failings are systemic and happening at a high level. Troublingly, the report makes it clear that some forces are still ‘struggling to get the basics right’ and ‘too few criminal investigations are leading to justice’ for survivors.

We know that there remains a fundamental misunderstanding of domestic abuse, including coercive control within policing. It is essential that the police receive mandatory, trauma-informed, culturally competent training on domestic abuse and other forms of VAWG, to ensure that they are able to respond effectively and sensitively.

Survivors tell us the police are not equipped to deal with technology-facilitated domestic abuse including cyberstalking, online harassment or economic abuse which is hugely concerning and must be addressed with substantial training.

This report also echoes similar issues about policing failures we have seen in previous reports and inspections. We still have serious concerns about a misogynistic culture within the police force outlined in Baroness Casey’s 2023 report – it is clear that over a year on there are still systematic issues in how the police aim to tackle violence against women and girls that is prohibiting survivors from being able to access the justice they deserve and desperately need.”