Safer Warwickshire Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, 2023 – 2026
Warwickshire County Council along with the Safer Warwickshire Partnership Board has approved a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy 2023-2026. This Strategy sets out a three-year partnership approach to ending VAWG in Warwickshire.
Violence and abuse, in any form, is unacceptable. Certain crimes, including domestic abuse, rape (and all other sexual offences), and honour-based violence disproportionally affect women and girls. This must stop. The safety of everyone in our county is our priority. This strategy which has been developed in partnership with a range of statutory, community and voluntary organisations across Warwickshire, outlines how agencies will work together to tackle VAWG. In addition, consultation exercises have been undertaken to engage with local victim-survivors and professionals working in local services.
The four key priorities and objectives of the strategy are:
1. Prioritising Prevention- We will challenge the attitudes, behaviour’s and societal norms which foster VAWG by raising awareness and the understanding of them, and by intervening early where possible to prevent it. We will work to ensure everyone understands what healthy relationships look like, recognition around the signs of abuse, and work to better understand how to prevent the cycle of abuse.
2. Supporting Victims- We will provide high-quality, fit for purpose, joined up provision for victim-survivors, ensuring we meet the needs of all our communities. We will address the barriers that prevent people telling someone about the abuse and violence that they are experiencing.
3. Pursuing Perpetrators and Reducing Re-offending - We will continue to pursue perpetrators and reduce re-offending by working with those who offend. We will work in collaboration across the Warwickshire Partnership to engage with those who offend and work with them via specialist behavioral change interventions, to help stop the harm to victim-survivors, their families, and the wider community.
4. Strengthening the System - We will continue to strengthen our partnership response to create an entire system approach to tackling VAWG. We will ensure that professionals across the partnership are consistent in their understanding and response to VAWG.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to create this strategy – particularly those Warwickshire individuals with lived experience of VAWG, who generously gave time to share their own story with us.
View our Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy 2023-2026 (PDF, 12.1 MB).