LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2021) Violence against women and girls in the UK should be given the same level of priority as terrorism, organized crime and child abuse, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said in a report released on Friday.
"When you look at the hierarchy of priorities within police forces, very often violence against women and girls doesn't actually feature as the top three," said Zoe Billingham, the head of the Police watchdog was quoted as saying.
The report, which was commissioned by Home Minister Priti Patel in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, the 33-year-old woman that was kidnapped, raped and killed by a serving policeman in March, also concluded that the "vast improvement" made by the police, there are "problems, unevenness and inconsistencies" in dealing with the "epidemic" of violence against female victims in the UK.
"We therefore recommend that the Government and policing use all reasonable means at their disposal to raise the priority of the response to VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls), and to make sure it is improved, consistent and sufficiently resourced," it said.
According to the inspectors, violence against women and girls in England and Wales alone were "stark and shocking" in the year ending in March 2020, when around 1.6 million females were victim of domestic abuse and 618,000 were sexually assaulted.
