Landscape Review: Policing Technology-Facilitated and Online Violence Against Women and Girls.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been described as an epidemic by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the body that co-ordinates national responses to policing priorities across England and Wales.  At the same time as the government has announced a key target of halving VAWG over 10 years, and has made VAWG a national policing priority.  However the nature of VAWG is rapidly changing, affected by the digital revolution that has profoundly affected society over recent years.  This transformation has been acknowledged by the NPCC, which has described technology-enabled and online VAWG as a priority threat within the annual threat assessment.  So what is policing actually doing to address this priority?

This is the question that the Centre for Protecting Women Online has attempted to answer in commissioning a landscape review on the police response to online and technology-enabled VAWG.  The landscape review has been published today, and seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How is technology affecting VAWG offending?
2. How are the police responding to technology facilitated and online VAWG?
3. What good practice currently exists?
4. What gaps need to be addressed?

The review, which is based on desk-based review of existing published material, makes a number of findings:

1. Technology has transformed the VAWG threat 

In common with other crime types, technology has revolutionised the nature and scale of VAWG offending.  But this has not yet fed through into police data on recorded crime, which doesn’t accurately represent the threat compared with other credible independent sources.  The result is a growing gap between what is actually happening and the police understanding and response.

2. The police response to technology-facilitated VAWG has not evolved to keep pace with the threat 

Policing approaches have not yet mainstreamed the threat of tech-enabled and online VAWG as a core element of their national response. This means that opportunities to better identify perpetrators and safeguard victims and survivors are currently being missed.

3. There is existing good practice in policing but it is scattered and needs to be better co-ordinated and mainstreamed

There are committed practitioners across policing who are attempting to address this threat and some promising projects showing impact but they are not yet integrated into a consistent national programme to address this challenge.  

4. There is a need for a concerted focus to close the gap between the threat and the current response

Policing needs to focus on rapidly closing this gap in order to build public trust and confidence and meet the government’s target of halving VAWG in ten years. 

There are three key recommendations arising from the review:

1. Addressing under-reporting

Without concerted efforts to improve reporting, including from third parties such as online platforms, there will not be a realistic approach to threat identification and mitigation.  Without this focus the policing response will continue to lag behind the evolving threat. A trauma-informed approach is critical to improving reporting, ensuring that those affected feel safe, believed, and supported when coming forward.

2. Building a national operating model

There needs to be a national operating model for the police response to tech-enabled and online VAWG in order to build confidence with victims and survivors and hold police forces to account.  Embedding trauma-informed principles, such as safety, transparency, choice, and cultural sensitivity into this model is essential for creating a system that does not compound harm. There are also lessons to be drawn from other policing approaches to complex national threats, such as child sexual abuse and exploitation. 

3. Developing the network

Given the evolving nature, scale, and complexity of the threat, a joined-up network is essential. Policing has a central role to play, but it cannot tackle tech-enabled and online VAWG in isolation. A more coordinated effort is needed—drawing on the expertise and resources of industry, academia, and the third sector. Building this broader network will support innovation, enhance threat understanding, and strengthen the overall system response. As with other threats, such as online child sexual abuse and exploitation, a multi-agency approach will be key to developing effective and sustainable solutions.

The challenge of addressing online and technology-enabled VAWG should be a key objective for the new national policing centre for VAWG and public protection.  Government and policing need to support the new centre to make a difference that will actually transform the police response and accord it the priority and weight that it needs as a national policing priority and manifesto commitment.

The full Landscape Review can be read here.

This blog post was authored by Giles Herdale on behalf of the Centre for Protecting Women Online.