By Humberside PCC Jonathan Evison hosts conference to discuss tackling violence against females
Written by Lauren Paul
Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison and Humberside Police hosted a conference this week to discuss putting a stop to violence against women and girls.
Over 40 representatives from different agencies attended to assess the ongoing work and identify potential joint working opportunities.
They all agreed that a shared stance and responsibility was needed to address the violence, abuse and harassment against women and girls that has been climbing out of control.
Their aim is to redirect more officers towards pursuing violent offenders, decreasing the levels of harm that they can cause by doing so.
This comes in response to HM inspectors who called for improvements to be made to services and the support victims receive as a result of the “stark and shocking” levels of violence that has been occurring against females of all ages.
Humberside Police data shows that the Humber region ranks fifth nationally for the most recorded domestic abuse incidents.
75% of these offences have been against women.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales also indicated that an estimated 1.6 million women have experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2020.
Shockingly, over a third of sexual offences are against children.
In the year ending September 2020, 153,136 rape and sexual offences were recorded by the police. Women featured in 84% of those cases and 90% of all reported offences of rape.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham said: “We are living during a national epidemic of violence against women and girls. The prevalence and range of offending and harm is stark and shocking.”
She continued: “Urgent action is needed to uproot and address this and police cannot solve this alone.
“There must be a seamless approach to preventing and tackling violence against women and girls across the whole system, including education, local authorities, health, social care and those from across the criminal justice system – with all agencies working together.
“A radical and immediate change in approach is needed, supported by sustained funding and mandated responsibilities, potentially through a new statutory framework.”
PCC Jonathan Evison said: “Violence and abuse in all its forms will not be tolerated. We need women and girls to feel safe and listened to in coming forward with reports of abuse and we need our criminal justice system to work effectively for all victims and survivors.
“We must all be prepared, on a partnership basis, to prioritise tackling violence against women and girls and this will be one of the key priorities in my new Police and Crime plan, which will be published in the Autumn.
“We must start with addressing the perpetrators of this violence and abuse. We live in a society and culture where misogyny and sexism have for too long been tolerated, where girls and women are over-sexualised in the media and victims are wrongly often depicted as being somehow to blame for the crimes committed against them.”
He continued: “My Office has been instrumental in sourcing and providing funding to support victims and survivors through therapeutic services and support via Independent Sexual Violence Advisors, and there is other good work happening across our area, but there is much more still to do.
“By bringing our efforts together, I am convinced we can go further.”
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