Campaigners welcome plans but say poor funding means Labour’s ambitions unlikely to be met

A landmark strategy to protect women and girls from violence and abuse “falls seriously short” of the funding required to realise the government’s ambitions, campaigners have said.

The government’s strategy to combat violence against women and girls (VAWG) was hailed as a “milestone” by women’s organisations. It will focus on prevention and tackling harmful behaviours in boys, by teaching pupils about healthy relationships and pornography and equipping teachers with the skills to intervene if they witness disturbing or worrying behaviour.

Tackling misogyny with focused education in schools.

A new GP referral service and £50m funding for therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse.

New laws to ban AI “nudification” apps.

Plans to work with tech companies to ban the sharing of nude images on children’s phones.

Specialist rape and sexual offences units in every police force.

A national rollout of strict new restraining orders on domestic abusers.

£19m funding for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.

£550m investment to support victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice system.

Labour’s delayed strategy stresses prevention. Big changes in policing and the courts are needed too

Labour set itself a mammoth task when it pledged, before last year’s election, to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in 10 years. While many forms of crime have decreased over the past decade, sexual assault has not. In the year to March 2025, 1.9% of people in England and Wales experienced it, and 82% of victims were female. The prevalence of image-related offences has risen sharply. So has concern about the impact on young men of violent pornography and influencers.

Given this grim backdrop, and the fiscal constraints under which the government has chosen to operate, it is no wonder that the promised VAWG strategy was delayed. This is a societal issue that does not sit neatly in one government department. Jess Phillips is the minister responsible at the Home Office. But education and justice reforms are also essential if aims are to be met.

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