During her election campaign and since taking office, Merseyside's Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, has vowed to work with partners to tackle the epidemic of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Launched in November 2022, the 'Working in partnership to tackle Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Delivery Plan' sets out a clear ambition to protect women and girls who live, work and visit Merseyside, prevent violence, pursue offenders and ensure tackling VAWG is prioritised and treated with urgency.
The strategy, which has been agreed by all political leaders and has been contributed to by nearly 50 partners across the region, sets out a series of straight-forward and achievable actions which all agencies can deliver to help eradicate VAWG.
The VAWG Delivery Plan is the result of extensive consultation with professional partners, including frontline community groups and voluntary organisations, and brave women and girls from all across all five boroughs of Merseyside who came forward to share their lived experiences.
Each of the 57 actions it contains, will be driven forward by a dedicated group who will be responsible for ensuring progress and achieving key milestones, overseen and reviewed by the Police’s Commissioner oversight board, the Merseyside Strategic Policing and Partnerships Board (MSPPB).
12 Months Later...
One year on since the launch of the Delivery Plan, the Commissioner released a progress report in November 2023 detailing the successes and work that’s ongoing to tackle Violence against Women and Girls.
Key achievements from the last 12 months include:
- Vulnerability / Trauma-informed training delivered to more than 1,782 police officers and staff to improve their interactions with victims;
- 131 schools trained to have age-appropriate conversations on misogyny, sexual harassment and peer-on-peer abuse and a further 131 schools taken part in the ‘Send Me A Selfie’ training delivered by the Ariel Trust;
- 51,600+ employees now have access to a Domestic Abuse Workplace Champion;
- 33 new 360degree cameras installed across Liverpool city centre;
- £800,000 to tackle domestic abuse through early intervention programmes;
- £3.2m committed to support survivors of sexual violence;
To support these outcomes, the Crime Commissioner has:
- Relaunched the Modern Slavery Network bringing partners and agencies together to redouble efforts to tackle the issue of slavery and trafficking and improve the support provided to victims.
- Secured an additional £100,000 funding for the Safer Streets Merseyside campaign making it clear there is No Excuse for sexual violence.
- Launched a ‘guardian project’, with LJMU student volunteers trained to provide support to those who need it in Liverpool’s night-time economy, such as helping people get home or providing emotional support.
- Secured £2.2m in uplift funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence services across Merseyside to provide a range of community-based support for victim-survivors.
- Offered free training to employers through the Domestic Abuse Workplace Scheme to ensure workplaces are safe places and by equipping staff to become Workplace Champions to help colleagues who may be at risk.
- Pledged a five-year funding package to ensure access to specialist harmful practices support.
- Secured £200,000 to improve the safety of women and girls in St Helens travelling at night time, through enhanced CCTV and street lighting.
- Launched ‘safe spaces’ at each of the bus stations for anyone who feels vulnerable within travel centres and needs support.
- Explored opportunities to conduct a domestic abuse funding review to understand the demand for organisations supporting victim-survivors.
- Ongoing development of her commissioned Victim Care Merseyside hub which works with specialist sexual violence and domestic abuse services.