Yesterday (18 December), the government published its long-awaited national strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG), which ministers have declared a “national emergency”. 

Built around three pillars: preventing abuse, stopping perpetrators, and supporting victims, the Strategy marks the first major step towards the government’s manifesto pledge to halve VAWG within a decade. 

It includes increased measures to tackle misogyny in schools, combat child sexual exploitation, and greater powers for police and courts to tackle perpetrators. We are very pleased to see £1 billion of funding dedicated to supporting victims. 

Children and young people 

We welcome the government’s commitment to tackling misogyny in schools through healthy relationships education and teacher training.  

We are particularly encouraged that early intervention measures, such as the helpline for students worried about their behaviour and teenage relationship abuse pilots, focus on young people who use harm in their relationships, alongside support for victims.  

However, the education reforms do not go far enough. While all secondary schools in England will be required to improve their healthy relationship education by 2029, our work shows that misogynistic views can form as early as eight. To tackle the root causes of abuse, comprehensive education and targeted support must begin in primary school.  

The £20 million allocated for teacher training and other prevention measures falls far short of what is needed to deliver a whole-school approach. Evidence from our early intervention work in Greater Manchester shows that meaningful change requires long-term investment and delivery by trusted third-sector partners embedded in schools and communities. 

We also welcome the review of the age limit in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships experience abuse and 16-24 year olds are most likely to experience abuse and perpetrate it to their peers, yet, the Act only applies to those over the age of 16 as perpetrators. While we do not support labelling children as perpetrators, the legislation should be expanded to recognise teenage relationship abuse and ensure young people can access appropriate support. 

Ending the postcode lottery 

As a leading provider of perpetrator programmes in the UK, we are particularly pleased to see the government’s commitment to expanding interventions for domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators across England and Wales, helping to end the postcode lottery to access support and intervention. 

These commitments include: 

• The national roll-out of the Drive Project. TLC has delivered Drive across the North West since 2021, and we welcome the £53 million investment to expand the programme across England and Wales to work with, manage and disrupt high-risk perpetrators. 
• The expansion of Multi-Agency Tasking and Coordination (MATAC) groups. TLC is a key partner in MATACs across Greater Manchester, delivering behaviour change programmes for perpetrators of domestic abuse. Weknow their effectiveness in coordinating community responses to high-risk perpetrators. Expanding these groups to every police force area will strengthen consistency and coordination in managing serious harm. 

Whilst we are pleased that the Drive Project and MATACs are being extended nationally, there needs to be equal access to a range of perpetrator interventions at all levels of risk with embedded victim support. We look forward to working with the government locally and nationally to make this a reality. 

Cross-departmental approach 

We welcome the Strategy’s cross-departmental approach which includes a huge number of new initiatives across health, technology and policing. These include the new Steps to Safety initiative, which aims to connect victims to specialist services through the NHS; the introduction of nudity detection filters to prevent intimate image abuse online; and the creation of specialist rape and sexual offences units in every police force in England. 

However, the lack of additional funding for specialist police units, combined with full implementation not expected until 2029, presents a risk of delay and reduced impact. To be effective, measures across all departments must be properly resourced to provide timely protection for victims.