Met chief says counter terrorism strategy will be used to tackle violence against women and girls

The Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police has said violence against women and girls (VAWG) is "endemic, systemic and a threat to society on the same scale as terrorism".

Sir Mark Rowley spoke out after a report published by the National Police Chiefs' Council and National College of Policing shows 3000 crimes of VAWG are recorded daily, with at least 1 in 12 women becoming victims each year.

Sir Mark said: "We must act to change the unacceptable reality for women and girls. Policing will play its part, but the scale and urgency of the challenge calls for a whole society response."

The report sets out the current situation, what the police are doing and what needs to happen next which includes tackling the issue using counterterrorism strategies.

Sir Mark added: "The same four Ps that are used so effectively in counter terrorism now guide our approach - protect individuals, relentlessly pursue perpetrators, prevent people from committing violence against women and girls, and prepare policing to effectively respond.

"We’re overhauling the training given to officers across the country and we’re committed to drastically improving the experience of victims which is so often a barrier to reporting.

"We’re working at pace to understand the worrying behaviours that drive violence against women and girls, identifying where intervention can put a stop to future escalation."

Assistant Commissioner for the Met Police, Louisa Rolf, explains what the force are doing following this report.

The Met have come under fire in recent years after two big cases of former officers who were found guilty of murder and rape.

This includes Wayne Couzens, an off duty police officer, who was found guilty of the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.

In response to these events, the Metropolitan Police implemented a new action plan for tackling violence against women and girls including a review of the Met culture and a review of all the investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse against their officers.

But following this new report, the Met say they're now going to change other things including the way they investigate rape to increase arrests and charges.

Sir Mark added that London is using new approaches that are currently working.

"The early results from the Met’s data-led targeting of the 100 most harmful offenders suggests we’re already seeing more dangerous men brought to justice and put behind bars," he said.

"Their use of live facial recognition is also proving effective at identifying and scrutinising the actions of sex offenders who are in the community and who might otherwise have been able to hide their offending in plain sight."

The force will also be using "specially trained investigators, better technology to detect and investigate offences, and victim support embedded in every case".

"There's so much we can do...and we are taking it incredibly seriously," added Louisa Rolf, Assistant Commissioner for the Met.

"This is the tip of the iceberg, and policing must deal with perpetrators effectively. But others must work with us too.

"Because this happens with young people, so many growing perpetrators are under the age of 18 and policing is not the best solution for these people."

The commissioner concluded his statement saying it needed the whole of society to tackle the issue.

He said: "We need social services and healthcare providers to be set up to spot early warning signs of abuse, embedding a preventative approach where perpetrators are most likely to engage with mental health and substance abuse services.

"We need education partners to teach children about healthy relationships as part of a nationally mandated curriculum.

"We need to technology companies to come to the table, recognising their responsibility to introduce more robust safeguarding measures to stop abusers harming victims online.

'"We welcome the Government’s commitment to halving rates of violence against women and girls over the coming decade but it is not a goal policing alone can meet. We urge them to seize the opportunity to lead a new and ambitious approach where the whole-system contributes to making it a reality."

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