Where was Starmer’s ‘milestone’ target to reduce violence against women and girls?

Editorial: If the quality of life of women and girls in Britain is as important as the government rightly says it should be, then it’s reasonable to ask that the laudable and historic objective to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years be adequately measured

It is deeply disappointing that the prime minister, or indeed any of his ministers, failed to include in the “plan for change” any interim “milestone” target to reduce violence against women and girls.

Granted, Sir Keir Starmer cannot have targets for absolutely everything but, between the various pledges made in the election manifesto, the various “foundations”, “missions”, “pillars”, “first steps” and the latest “milestones” there seem to be detailed metrics for most areas of government.

If the quality of life of women and girls in Britain is as important as the government rightly says it should be, then it’s reasonable to ask that the laudable and historic objective to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years be supplemented with something to judge progress by.

That is not to decry the prime minister’s sincerity in the matter. When he generously supported The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign and appeal to build more women’s refuges, he spoke movingly about how his work had brought him face to face with the human cost of such mental and physical cruelties; and how profound the impact of such encounters was on him.

He rightly declared that access to such refuges is the vital first step for any victim to rebuild their lives and secure justice, as well as immediate safety. For too long, governments neglected the problem and only since the 1970s has there been any sense that places of safety were needed.

Theresa May’s government did try and give some attention to the scourge of domestic violence, eventually resulting in the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, but Sir Keir’s is the first British government to make a tangible commitment to reduce the level of violence in the first place. Not only that, but it is the first in the world to do so. Whatever else, that is one ambition on which the government cannot be faulted.

The government has also announced that domestic killers will face tougher sentences. Murderers who strangle their victims or kill at the end of a relationship can expect longer stretches behind bars, while the Law Commission will carry out a wider review of homicide law and murder sentencing framework, making sure the punishment always fits the severity of the crime. These measures are to be rightly commended.

Yet the target of halving the extent of violence against women and girls would greatly benefit from the impetus that a “milestone” for this parliament could bring to the effort – because a decade as a timeframe inevitably creates less of a sense of urgency.

Those who know the problem best certainly think so. Abigail Ampofo, the interim CEO of Refuge, The Independent’s partner charity for the Brick by Brick project, pleads for a rethink: “Refuge welcomed the government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within the next decade, but were left disappointed ... Last week’s ONS data confirms that male violence against women and girls remains at horrifically high levels, with around 1.6 million women experiencing domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024. If the government is serious about halving VAWG, we need an action plan now, including improved funding for lifesaving domestic abuse services.”

Ms Ampofo’s suggestion that there should be ring-fenced, multi-year and sustainable funding for specialist organisations such as hers is an especially helpful one, as the government says it is finding it difficult to find a suitable metric, or set of such metrics, by which to judge progress.

The home secretary Yvette Cooper explains: “We’re working at the moment to work out how you measure overall violence against women and girls, how you look at domestic abuse, how you look at stalking, how you look at sexual offences, so that we can have that measure and so that we can see across the country what progress is being made.”

This rather suggests that, if anything, the pledge on violence against women and girls needs to be judged by a variety of measures, so far as they can be relied upon, rather than one particular statistic. Encouragingly, it sounds like the Home Office is taking its task seriously – and will have more to say to the women’s groups, and victims themselves, in the coming months.

As he gets on with the job of delivering for the British people, Sir Keir will no doubt have the safety and security of women and girls as a priority, too – bolstered by a set of realistic, but demanding, indicators of success.

Meanwhile, the work of constructing new, purpose-built shelters against violence continues, Brick by Brick.

Please donate now to the Brick by Brick campaign, launched by The Independent and charity Refuge, to help raise another £300,000 to build a second safe space for women where they can escape domestic abuse, rebuild their lives and make a new future. Text BRICK to 70560 to donate £15