Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has signed a letter to government calling on more to be done to prevent and tackle abuse and violence against women and girls.
The PCC was one of several high-profile names to co-sign the letter from White Ribbon UK to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling on more to be done to stop the causes of VAWG.
The letter says that while it welcomes the government’s commitment to halving VAWG in a decade, it can only be achieved by focussing on violence before it starts – working on a culture change, promoting equality and challenging gender stereotypes to transform harmful male cultures that lead to violence.
Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “It is a top priority for me to eliminate male violence against women and girls and it is vital that we all work together to tackle the causes of this harmful behaviour.
“We must work to curb the attitudes and behaviours that lead to the harm of women and girls and it is crucial that all areas of society work together to influence positive change.”
The letter adds: “We are calling for a plan that prioritises the Primary Prevention of violence against women and girls that takes a whole society approach, engaging men and boys. We welcome the Government’s focus on the education of young people, but it must take a cross-department approach that also supports workplaces, sports organisations and the media to shift harmful attitudes that lead to violence against women and girls.
“Such work has been underfunded for many years and much of it delivered by small charities. Such work needs proper investment with statutory sources of funding made available for specialist organisations working on Primary Prevention initiatives.
“The prevalence of violence against women and girls will not decrease unless we start addressing the so-called ‘low-level’ attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate and normalise violence and abuse. If Government works in partnership with organisations to promote changes in the social and cultural patterns of behaviour that perpetuate gender-based violence, we can prevent violence against women and girls.”
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