Everyone who stands for election to public office should commit to ending violence against women and girls

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July 2019 – Report Launch


Are PCC’s working for women and girls? EVAW surveyed the 42 Police and Crime Commissioners’ response to domestic violence, sexual violence and other forms of violence against women and girls and found it is “haphazard” and unreliable, combined with worrying denial about the fact that these crimes are widespread and very disproportionately affect women and girls.

We are concerned that PCCs’ failure to recognise the scale and then prioritise action on violence against women and girls is likely to be seriously impacting on both the setting of policing priorities and the commissioning of services to support victims.

Recommendations in the report include:

  • Secretaries of State to instruct PCCs to recognise the seriousness and connectedness of crimes of violence against women and girls, and to rewrite their Plans and policing and victims strategies accordingly.
  • PCCs to make an assessment of the scale and nature of all forms of violence against women and girls in their area, and review their policing priorities and spending plans accordingly. They should involve local communities and especially local women’s organisations while doing this.
  • Chief constables, other police leaders, and CPS leaders, to make representations to their PCC about their operational reality of responding to these crimes, and support the development of a more joined up and strategic local approach.
  • MPs to make representations to and meet with their PCCs and enquire directly about their specific aims on ending violence against women and girls, and their commitments to sustainable support services for survivors of abuse.
  • Local media organisations to commission investigations into the prevalence and impact of violence against women and girls locally, and encourage local debate on how it needs to be tackled; the invisibility of much of this abuse compared to other crime types arguably reduces the pressure on PCCs, police and courts to make it a priority.

Police & Crime Commissioners 2016

We wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioner candidates individually during their elections in May 2016. These are the replies we received concerning commitments to tackling abuse of women and girls:

  • Avon and Somerset
  • Sue Mountstevens (Independent) – RE-ELECTED
  • Bedfordshire
  • Kathryn Holloway (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Linda Jack (Liberal Democrat)
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Jason Ablewhite (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Rupert Moss-Eccardt (Liberal Democrat)
  • Cheshire
  • John Dwyer (Conservative)
  • Neil Lewis (Liberal Democrat)
  • Cleveland
  • Barry Coppinger (Labour) – RE-ELECTED
  • Cumbria
  • Mary Robinson (Independent)
  • Derbyshire
  • Hardyal Dhindsa (Labour) – ELECTED
  • Devon and Cornwall
  • Alison Hernandez (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Jonathan Smith (UKIP)
  • Bob Spencer (Independent)
  • Dorset
  • Andrew Graham (Conservative)
  • Martyn Underhill (Independent) – RE-ELECTED
  • Durham
  • Ron Hogg (Labour) – RE-ELECTED
  • Essex
  • Kevin McNamara (Liberal Democrat)
  • Bob Spink (UKIP)
  • Gloucestershire
  • Barry Kirby (Labour)
  • Hampshire
  • Michael Lane (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Steve Watts (Zero Tolerance Policing ex Chief)
  • Hertfordshire
  • David Lloyd (Conservative) – RE-ELECTED
  • Kerry Pollard (Labour)
  • Humberside
  • Mike Whitehead (UKIP)
  • Lancashire
  • James Barker (UKIP)
  • Andy Pratt (Conservative)
  • Lincolnshire
  • Victoria Ayling (UKIP)
  • Lucinda Preston (Labour)
  • Merseyside
  • John Coyne (Green)
  • Norfolk
  • Lorne Green (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Chris Jones (Labour)
  • Northumbria
  • Stewart Hay (Conservative)
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Tony Bates (Independent)
  • Tony Harper (Conservative)
  • South Yorkshire
  • Alan Billings (Labour) – RE-ELECTED
  • Staffordshire
  • Matthew Ellis (Conservative) – RE-ELECTED
  • Suffolk
  • Cath Pickles (Labour)
  • Simon Tobin (UKIP)
  • Surrey
  • David Munro (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • Thames Valley
  • John Howson (Liberal Democrat)
  • Anthony Stansfeld (Conservative) – RE-ELECTED
  • Warwickshire
  • Philip Seccombe (Conservative) – ELECTED
  • West Mercia
  • Barrie Sheldon (Independent)
  • Margaret Rowley (Liberal Democrat)
  • West Midlands
  • Pete Durnell (UKIP)
  • West Yorkshire
  • Peter Corkindale (UKIP)
  • Allan Doherty (Conservative)
  • Therese Hirst (English Democrats)
  • Wiltshire
  • Brian Matthew (Liberal Democrat)

We asked Police and Crime Commissioner candidates to pledge to the following if elected:

  • Will you prioritise violence against women and girls with an action plan?
  • Will you improve your police force’s performance and accountability of crimes of abuse of women and girls?
  • Will you ensure women’s support services are sustainable?
  • Will you be cautious in any look at ‘restorative justice’ in relation to crimes of abuse of women and girls?
  • Will you review and change the police response to prostitution so that women ‘selling sex’ are not targeted and ensure there are ‘exiting’ support services?

You can find a longer version of the questions here.

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