During her election campaign and since taking office, Merseyside's Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, has vowed to work with partners to tackle the epidemic of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Launched in November 2022, the 'Working in partnership to tackle Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Delivery Plan' sets out a clear ambition to protect women and girls who live, work and visit Merseyside, prevent violence, pursue offenders and ensure tackling VAWG is prioritised and treated with urgency.
The strategy, which has been agreed by all political leaders and has been contributed to by nearly 50 partners across the region, sets out a series of straight-forward and achievable actions which all agencies can deliver to help eradicate VAWG.
The VAWG Delivery Plan is the result of extensive consultation with professional partners, including frontline community groups and voluntary organisations, and brave women and girls from all across all five boroughs of Merseyside who came forward to share their lived experiences.
Each of the 57 actions it contains, will be driven forward by a dedicated group who will be responsible for ensuring progress and achieving key milestones, overseen and reviewed by the Police’s Commissioner oversight board, the Merseyside Strategic Policing and Partnerships Board (MSPPB).
2 years later...
Since the launch of the Delivery Plan, the Commissioner has released a progress report each year detailing the successes and work that's ongoing to tackle Violence against Women and Girls, with her latest report published in November 2024
Key achievements from the last 2 years include:
- Vulnerability / Trauma-informed training delivered to more than 1,782 police officers and staff to improve their interactions with victims;
- 131 schools trained to have age-appropriate conversations on misogyny, sexual harassment and peer-on-peer abuse and a further 131 schools taken part in the ‘Send Me A Selfie’ training delivered by the Ariel Trust;
- 51,600+ employees now have access to a Domestic Abuse Workplace Champion;
- 33 new 360degree cameras installed across Liverpool city centre;
- £800,000 to tackle domestic abuse through early intervention programmes;
- £3.2m committed to support survivors of sexual violence;
- Night-time bus returns to the region aimed at making women and girls feel safer when travelling at night.
- More than 200 professionals have undertaken Savera UK’s Honour Based Abuse training.
- Domestic abuse refresher training for all lawyers and specialist training for all Rape and Serious Sexual Offence prosecutors.
- More than £440,000 for projects focused on creating Safer Streets in Liverpool, St Helens and Knowsley.
To support these outcomes, the Crime Commissioner has:
- Relaunched the Modern Slavery Network bringing partners and agencies together to redouble efforts to tackle the issue of slavery and trafficking and improve the support provided to victims.
- Secured an additional £100,000 funding for the Safer Streets Merseyside campaign making it clear there is No Excuse for sexual violence.
- Launched a ‘guardian project’, with LJMU student volunteers trained to provide support to those who need it in Liverpool’s night-time economy, such as helping people get home or providing emotional support.
- Secured £2.2m in uplift funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence services across Merseyside to provide a range of community-based support for victim-survivors.
- Offered free training to employers through the Domestic Abuse Workplace Scheme to ensure workplaces are safe places and by equipping staff to become Workplace Champions to help colleagues who may be at risk.
- Pledged a five-year funding package to ensure access to specialist harmful practices support.
- Secured £200,000 to improve the safety of women and girls in St Helens travelling at night time, through enhanced CCTV and street lighting.
- Launched ‘safe spaces’ at each of the bus stations for anyone who feels vulnerable within travel centres and needs support.
- Launched a region-wide strategy to tackle Modern Slavery and exploitation and improve the support provided to victims.
- Offered support to more than 40,000 victims of crime through the Victim Care Merseyside hub.
- Launched a partnership campaign #TakingAction with Merseyside Police’ Chief Constable, Serena Kennedy, pledging their 100% committed to tackling VAWG and putting the voices of women and girls first.
- Commissioned a new research study to better understand the true demand on domestic abuse services and how they are funded.
- Hosted yearly lived experience workshops to learn from victim-survivors
Previous progress reports
Summary progress report 2022/23
Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable have pledged their 100% commitment to ending Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) as they launch a hard-hitting new campaign recognising the fears and concerns of women and girls in our region.
