Consultation, evidence and inquiry submissions are an important part of our work at VISION. Responding to Parliamentary, government and non-government organisation consultations ensures that a wide range of opinions and voices are factored into the policy decision making process. As our interdisciplinary research addresses violence and how it cuts across health, crime and justice and the life course, we think it is important to take the time to answer any relevant call and to share our insight and findings to support improved policy and practice. We respond as VISION, the Violence & Society Centre, and sometimes in collaboration with others. Below are the links to our published responses and evidence from June 2022.
UK Parliament – International Development Committee – Inquiry: Women, Peace and Security. Our submission was published in March 2026
UK Parliament (Library) – POSTNote – Approved Work: Violence Against Women and Girls in schools and among children & young people. Two VISION reports were referenced in their POSTNote published in August 2025
UK Parliament – Public Accounts Committee – Inquiry: Tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). Our submission was published in April 2025
UK Parliament – House of Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility Policy – Call for Evidence: Exploring how education and work opportunities can be better integrated to improve social mobility across the UK. Our submission was published in 2025
UK Parliament – Women and Equalities Committee – Inquiry: Community Cohesion. Our submission was published in February 2025
UK Parliament – Call for evidence on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Our submission was published in February 2025
UK Parliament – Public Accounts Committee – Inquiry: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Government. Our submission was published in January 2025
UK Parliament – Public Accounts Committee – Inquiry: Tackling Homelessness. Our submission with Dr Natasha Chilman was published in January 2025. See the full report
UK Parliament – Women and Equalities Committee – Inquiry: The rights of older people. Our submission was published in November 2023
UK Parliament – Women and Equalities Committee – Inquiry: The impact of the rising cost of living on women. Our submission was published in November 2023
UK Parliament – Women and Equalities Committee – Inquiry: The escalation of violence against women and girls. Our submission published in September 2023
Home Office – Legislation consultation: Machetes and other bladed articles: proposed legislation (submitted response 06/06/2023). Government response to consultation and summary of public responses was published in August 2023
Race Disparity Unit (RDU) – Consultation: Standards for Ethnicity Data (submitted response 30/08/2022). Following the consultation, a revised version of the data standards was published in April 2023
UK Parliament – The Home Affairs Committee – Call for evidence: Human Trafficking. Our submission was published in March 2023
UK Parliament – The Justice and Home Affairs Committee – Inquiry: Family migration. Our submission was published in September 2022 and a report was published following the inquiry in February 2023
Home Office – Consultation: Controlling or Coercive behaviour Statutory Guidance. Our submission was published in June 2022
Iranian women perceive themselves as active participants in overcoming barriers that have historically silenced them. Their perspectives on eliminating violence against women (VAW), with a particular focus on how they challenge the structural and epistemic injustices that underpin such violence, are analysed in a recent publication, Gendered violence and epistemic injustice in Iran: women’s civic aspirations for justice.
In their article, Dr Nadia Aghtaie (University of Bristol), Dr Ladan Hashemi (VISION Senior Research Fellow at City St George’s University of London), and Fatemeh Babakhani (Mehre Shams Afarid, Non-Governmental Domestic Violence Organisation for Women and Children, Urmia, Iran), draw on a qualitative, purposive voluntary sample via an anonymous Instagram survey, chosen for its accessibility and reach among women and girls in Iran. A total of 453 respondents aged 16–59 answered the open-ended question, “Write your views and suggestions regarding violence against women and how to eliminate it,” and their responses were thematically analysed. While this method enabled wide participation, it also introduced likely sampling bias towards internet users—particularly younger, urban, and tech-savvy participants.
Participants identified a wide range of violence, including emotional, physical, sexual, coercive control, and street harassment. However, the most prominent themes that emerged were the need for raising awareness, among both women and men, about what constitutes violence, and the demand for comprehensive legal reforms to address and prevent VAW.
Many responses indicated a desire to reshape cultural and religious norms that have historically contributed to women’s marginalisation. The participants’ narratives highlighted how women’s experiences of violence are frequently dismissed, minimised, or rendered unintelligible in dominant public discourses. By articulating their understandings of violence and proposing solutions, these women actively resisted such injustice and asserted themselves as credible knowers.
Overall, respondents acknowledged the intersecting structural, cultural and religious norms that perpetuate VAW in Iran. Yet their responses were not solely diagnostic; they were also future-oriented and hopeful. They strongly believed that education, awareness-raising and legal reforms are catalysts for change and emphasised the right to be heard and valued as credible sources on their views on VAW.
To cite: Aghtaie, N., Hashemi, L. & Babakhani, F. Gendered violence and epistemic injustice in Iran: women’s civic aspirations for justice. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06952-3
Teenage relationship abuse remains one of the least understood forms of domestic abuse, particularly among those under 16 years of age, who fall outside the statutory definition within the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act.
To close the gap between research, policy, and frontline practice and ensure that young people are no longer overlooked, VISION researcher and co-Deputy Director of the Violence and Society Centre at City St George’s, Dr Ruth Weir, co-established the National Working Group on Teenage Relationship Abuse with Gloucestershire Deputy Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint in 2024. The group consists of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, third sector organisations, and young people with lived experience of teenage abuse from across the health and justice sectors for a holistic understanding of the problem.
Membership has grown over the two years and now includes the Home Office, Department for Education, the Cabinet Office, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office, College of Policing, local government (Islington Council), universities (City St George’s, Essex, Lancashire), NHS bodies, multiple police forces such as Thames Valley and the London Metropolitan Police, school trusts, and charities like SafeLives, Respect, Youth Realities, Changing Relations, and Victim Support just to name a few.
The group brings their expertise to shape ongoing national conversations on how teenage relationship abuse is defined, recognised, and responded to, particularly for those under 16.
VISION researchers Dr Annie Bunce (City St Georges University of London) and Dr Estela Capelas Barbosa (University of Bristol), alongside Dr Anna Dowrick (University of Oxford) and Dr Meredith Hawking (Queen Mary University of London), recently wrapped up an independent evaluation of Women’s Aid’s school-based educational programme, ‘Expect Respect’. The programme is aimed at children and young people (ages 4 to 18) and school staff and focuses on unhealthy relationships and the gender stereotypes that underpin them. Sessions are tailored to different age groups, with content for older students also addressing domestic abuse. It is designed to be delivered year-on-year nationally. You can find out more about the programme here: Expect Respect – Women’s Aid
The evaluation was conducted between February 2024 and May 2025, utilising mixed methods to assess the impact of the programme. Staff and student survey data from participating schools was analysed quantitatively, to assess the impact of the programme on individual and school-level behavioural outcomes and differences in student outcomes by age, gender, ethnicity or disability. Creative methods including arts-based activities and vignettes were utilised in student focus groups to facilitate engagement and expression. Interview data from staff and focus group data from students was analysed qualitatively to explore the impact of the programme on school culture, and understanding of and attitudes towards gender stereotypes, healthy relationships and domestic abuse (the latter with older students only).
Findings from quantitative analysis showed that Expect Respect generally works in terms of teaching children and young people about gender roles, healthy relationships and domestic abuse, as well as how and where to seek help. For example, we found the programme had a positive impact on understanding of gender roles among children aged 4 to 14, and on understanding of domestic abuse among older students (ages 11-18). Following the Expect Respect session, those aged 11-18 were less likely to view controlling behaviour as acceptable, and over twice as likely to say they knew who they could talk to if they were concerned about a relationship. School staff overwhelmingly reported they had a better understanding of domestic abuse and felt more confident about responding to abuse-related disclosures after the staff training than they had done beforehand, and were very satisfied with the training. Qualitative findings from staff interviews supported these survey results, with staff describing the content of the training as eye-opening and the delivery by Women’s Aid staff excellent.
Qualitative analysis revealed overall consensus with the quantitative findings in terms of the effectiveness of the Expect Respect training, as well as revealing some nuanced findings. For example, while survey results indicated a change in attitudes for most outcomes immediately following the session, qualitative findings suggested that achieving longer-term change would require consolidation of learning via regular sessions. We also found that secondary school students already had a reasonably decent understanding of the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviours prior to receiving the Expect Respect session, and felt it would have greater impact if there was a shift in emphasis from awareness raising towards practical advice about how to address unhealthy relationships and where to seek help. There was agreement among both staff and students that the programme would likely have more impact if it was more interactive, particularly the session tailored for older students.
Qualitative findings also suggested that boys found it more difficult to engage with the programme than girls, and both staff and students felt the programme was lacking in information about online relationships. Focus group data highlighted that gender stereotypes remain pervasive in young people’s thinking about heterosexual romantic relationships and are used to justify controlling behaviour. Despite this, staff were optimistic about the potential of the programme to positively impact on both students themselves, and school culture more widely, by planting a seed that they were hopeful would lead to longer term impact. Staff interviews also touched on the challenges of trying to model progressive gender stereotypes and healthy relationships to students through the programme when these were not necessarily reflected among adults in school culture. Nevertheless, staff unanimously felt that the Expect Respect sessions had helped them to identify unhealthy behaviour in relationships between students and also encouraged some students to come forward and speak to them about things they were worried about.
Recommendations
Our recommendation focus on the programme content, format and embedding learning, including:
Co-produce session content with young people
Make sessions more interactive
Utilise the power of personal stories and lived experience
Explore examples of unhealthy behaviour in friendships, families and romantic relationships
Focus on sparking conversations and making sessions memorable
Equip young people with skills to challenge unhealthy relationship behaviour, and linking with local support services
Continue with year-on-year delivery and provide resources/advice for schools on how to embed Expect Respect messages across the year and build on learning
A key pledge in the Labour Party’s 2024 election manifesto was to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) over the next ten years. It is well known that violence and abuse experienced by women and girls incorporates a multitude of contexts outside of (as well as within) family and intimate relationships, therefore, any strategy aimed at significantly reducing VAWG will need to extend beyond the domestic sphere, including lethal violence. Despite important advances in domestic homicide (DH) prevention in recent years, 55 per cent of adult women (16+ years) killed across England and Wales were not categorized as DH.
Dr Caroline Miles (University of Manchester) and VISION Co-Investigator Dr Elizabeth A Cook (City St George’s University of London) specifically address the killing of women and girls outside of family and intimate relationships, referred to here as ‘non-intimate femicide’ (NIF), in their recently published article, Non-intimate femicide in England and Wales: A ‘continua’ approach.
There have been numerous high-profile killings of women and girls by male strangers in the UK over the past few year (for example, Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, and three girls, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar killed in Southport). These cases attracted high levels of public attention as is often the outcome of intense media interest in particular femicides. Attracting less media attention are the killings of women and girls by men with whom they are acquainted but not intimately connected to (or in some cases, not recognized as such). There is currently a dearth of data, knowledge and policy aimed at preventing NIF, a problem which Caroline and Elizabeth strive to redress.
The research underpinning this article derives from the first exclusive study of NIF in England and Wales, presenting a statistical analysis of the victim, suspect and incident characteristics for all cases involving women who were killed by non-intimate partners or family members between 2002 and 2022. Using Homicide Index data for England and Wales (2002–2022), the researchers provide original insight into the victim, perpetrator and incident characteristics in NIF cases, and reveal important differences between intimate and NIF, as well as high levels of missing or poorly recorded data. They argue for a more accurate recording of NIF, alongside a ‘continua thinking’ approach to femicide research, which documents the killing of all women and girls across a range of intimate and non-intimate contexts. Caroline and Elizabeth write that by adopting a ‘continua of violence’ approach to femicide, which recognizes how ‘gender links violence at different points on a scale’, a nuanced and inclusive understanding of femicide can be developed that is not restricted to those categorized as ‘intimate’ or ‘domestic’.
If the current UK Labour Government are to succeed in their 2024 pledge to halve VAWG over a ten-year period, it is crucial that they focus on the whole continuum of lethal VAWG, including those killed by strangers and people known to them in some capacity who are not intimate partners or family members. NIF accounts for substantial proportions of female homicide victimization and although a key focus in recent years has been on learning more about the contexts of DH, the pathways leading to and circumstances surrounding the killing of women outside of intimate and kin relationships remain to a large extent unknown.
Recommendation
Recent work to improve the recording of femicide and measure sex/gender motivations acknowledges some non-intimate contexts of femicide; however, in order to fully understand the gendered contexts of NIF, it is essential to improve the quality of data recording for all forms of femicide and to mainstream sex/gender motivation data collection across the whole continuum of femicide.
To cite: Caroline Miles, Elizabeth A Cook, Non-intimate femicide in England and Wales: A ‘continua’ approach, The British Journal of Criminology, 2026;, azag005, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azag005
Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse invites you to an online webinar looking at Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) commissioning.
The project team, Dr Elizabeth Cook (VISION Co-Investigator, City St George’s UoL), Dr James Rowlands (Durham University), and Dr Althea Cribb (Durham University) will share findings from a British Academy / Leverhulme Small Grant funded research project into review notification and commissioning decision-making and identify implications for practice and policy.
This webinar will be of interest to stakeholders involved in reviews, including practitioners, commissioners, senior managers, policy makers, and researchers. Those affected by domestic homicides and abuse-related deaths, including family, are also welcome to join, as are family advocates.
Join us at this free online webinar on the 24th March between 1300 and 1430 to hear about the findings findings from this project.
Professor Vanessa Gash was an invited contributor on a recent panel on Barriers to Research on Sex and Gender at City, University, where she presented some of her work funded by VISION on workplace violence.
Workplace violence is often imagined as a rare or extreme event—yet for many employees, it forms part of a daily reality that remains unseen, unreported, and unmanaged. Evidence from recent reviews and representative UK data paints a troubling picture: violence, harassment, and bullying at work are both widespread and systematically minimised, particularly for groups already facing gendered or intersectional disadvantages.
One of the most striking patterns across studies is the silence of victims. Although around 8.3% of working‑age employees report threats, insults, or physical attacks at work, many more choose not to disclose their experiences. Research suggests a persistent “dark figure of crime,” with roughly 60% of crimes generally going unreported, and workplace violence likely exceeding this threshold. Victims often feel ashamed or fear appearing incompetent. At work—where reputational stakes are high and careers depend on social status—these concerns are intensified.
The Sullivan Review sheds further light on the issue by exploring barriers to research within academia itself. Alarmingly, bullying, harassment, and ostracisation emerged as the second most commonly cited barrier, reported by 42% of respondents. The sample was disproportionately composed of colleagues with protected characteristics—women, LGBTQ+ individuals, older staff, and those with disabilities. These groups are historically more vulnerable to exclusionary practices, and their experiences offer insight into how violence and inequality become mutually reinforcing.
A recurring theme across sectors—from nursing to higher education, hospitality, and even commercial kitchens—is managerial normalisation of violence. Studies show that managers may dismiss or downplay workers’ reports, frame violent incidents as interpersonal misunderstandings, or subtly blame victims for “mismanaging” interactions. Such responses erode trust and suppress reporting. Without acknowledgement from leadership, workplace violence becomes embedded in organisational culture, shielded by institutional inertia.
Gender inequalities intersect heavily with these processes. Women and gender‑diverse workers often face disproportionate scrutiny and are more likely to internalise blame for mistreatment. In environments where masculinity norms dominate—whether through expectations of resilience, emotional restraint, or competitiveness—experiences of violence can be viewed as a failure to cope rather than an organisational problem requiring intervention.
The consequences are not merely cultural or professional—they are clinical. Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study indicates that workplace violence is predictive of common mental disorders (CMDs) both at baseline and one year later, suggesting a causal pathway. Mental health harms linger long after individual incidents fade.
To break this cycle, organisations need scientifically designed interventions that include ongoing measurement, enforce accountability, and centre the voices of both workers and management. Most importantly, institutions must confront the gendered dynamics of silence, shame, and managerial denial that allow violence to persist.
The event brought together around a hundred survivor advocates, academics, frontline practitioners, and policymakers to critically examine urgent responses to HBA in today’s rapidly evolving world.
The conference featured three panels examining the flagship “Crime, Not Culture” campaign, the growing role of technology and media in shaping harm, and the resilience and leadership of survivors and community advocates. Throughout the day, speakers and attendees returned to a central question: How do we ensure HBA is recognised and treated as a serious crime rather than dismissed or misunderstood as ‘culture’?
Narratives, Evidence, and the Power of Speaking Out
The day opened with powerful survivor testimonies – deeply personal accounts of control, coercion and systemic failures. These stories underscored the need for meaningful training across policing, healthcare and the family courts. As one panel chair reflected, “It’s not that the government lacks the budget. It’s about priorities. Women from ethnic minorities are not a priority.” The consequences of this neglect, she noted, echo across public services, placing a substantial and avoidable burden on institutions such as the NHS and the police.
Scholars challenged common assumptions about “culture” and emphasised the importance of evidence-informed policy. Their discussions invited the audience to interrogate the ways colonial narratives have shaped understandings of honour, family, and gender norms.
Technology, Media, and Emerging Threats
The second panel explored the fast-changing digital landscape. Speakers examined how technology-facilitated abuse, sextortion, online misogyny, and surveillance increasingly interact with HBA. The panel highlighted that marginalised women and girls often face compounded risks: gendered, racialised, and technologically amplified.
Two short animations produced by the Women’s Research Hub team in collaboration with VISION, on HBA and sextortion were screened during the session. These visual narratives helped ground the discussion in the lived realities of young people navigating online harms – showing not just the risks, but also how digital tools can be used to educate, empower, and support.
One speaker captured the spirit of the day: “It seems it wasn’t enough to be oppressed by patriarchal systems; now we also face the same inequalities reflected back at us through AI and social media.”
Collective Action and Pathways to Change
The final panel focused on resilience and community action. Speakers discussed the importance of survivor leadership, culturally informed practice, and training that centres real voices rather than “death by PowerPoint.” Their reflections highlighted that effective change relies on collaboration between organisations, communities, and those with lived experience.
The conference closed with remarks from Jess Phillips MP, who reinforced the urgent need to strengthen protections and ensure survivors are heard and believed. Her contribution was a fitting conclusion to a day centred on solidarity, listening, and the collective responsibility to challenge harmful practices and support those affected.
One of the quilts created by survivors of ‘honour’-based abuse and IKWRO
A Day of Reflection and Resolve
The event showcased what happens when survivors, activists, academics, and practitioners come together with a shared purpose. Across panels, one message was clear: understanding and preventing ‘Honour‘-Based Abuse requires research, policy attention, resources, and above all, a commitment to centring the voices of those most affected.
VISION was proud to support this important gathering for a second time sparking further conversations about how evidence and collaboration can drive meaningful, long-lasting change.
Key to the event was the organisation and support of VISION’s Knowledge Exchange Manager, Kimberly Cullen and the IKWRO conference organising committee.
By Ladan Hashemi, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Health and Health Policy at City St George’s University of London
A new animation created by the Women’s Research Hubin collaboration with VISION aims to shed light on ‘Honour’-Based Abuse (HBA), a pervasive form of violence targeting women and girls. Informed by research and survey data on violence against women in Iran, this is the fifth animation in the Hub’s series on gender-based violence (GBV).The survey underpinning this work was designed by Fatima Babakhani, CEO of the safe house Mehre Shams Afarid in Iran.
HBA is widespread both in Iran and globally. Studies indicate that thousands of women and girls in Iran experience coercion, forced marriage, and other forms of abuse in the name of “honour.” Globally, HBA affects communities across the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa, and diaspora populations worldwide, often remaining hidden due to social stigma and cultural justifications. While reliable statistics are difficult to obtain because of underreporting, research shows that the consequences are severe: psychological trauma, physical violence, and, in extreme cases, death. The Centre for Human Rights in Iran reported that in 2024 at least 179 women in Iran were killed — roughly a woman every two days — a significant proportion of them as a result of so-called ‘honour’ killings.
The animation presents real-life narratives, capturing the lived experiences of women subjected to HBA. Through carefully constructed scenes, it depicts situations such as family-imposed restrictions on women’s clothing and mobility, threats, humiliation, forced and child marriage, and the devastating consequences of upholding “honour” through coercion, including physical violence and ‘honour’-based killings.
Some of the impactful transcripts featured in the animation include:
Forced marriage: “They said there had been too many rumours about her, so her family forced her to marry.”
‘Honour’– Based Killing:“His brothers came, one by one, saying: ‘You’ve protected your honour. You’ve spared us all the shame.”
The animation brings these testimonies to life with a sensitive and empathetic approach, allowing viewers to understand the psychological and social dynamics of HBA, as well as its human impact. It emphasises that ‘honour’ is never a justification for violence:“No one is another person’s ‘honour’.‘Honour’ is lost when we turn to violence — not when a woman chooses to live her life on her own terms.”
The campaign also provides clear guidance for bystanders and communities on how to respond:
Avoid judging others’ private lives — everyone has the right to make choices about their body, relationships, and lifestyle.
Support victims of HBA without blame, and do not leave them isolated.
Be mindful of language: words like “honour,” “shame,” and “purity” can reinforce harmful norms.
Do not share private information or images that could endanger someone.
Speak up if you believe someone is at risk and contact trusted organisations.
The animation was produced in collaboration with animators in Iran, experts supporting women affected by HBA in Iran, Fatima Babakhani, and the UK-based NGO IKWRO, which supports victims of HBA in the UK.
The animation will be officially launched on the Women’s Research Hub Instagram page during the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV, providing an important opportunity to reach a global audience and raise awareness of HBA. Ladan and colleagues will also be discussing the campaign at a free lunchtime webinar on Monday, 8 December. For further information and to register for the Teams link, please see Webinar: Using animation to campaign against VAWG.
Previous animations in the series have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, narrated in multiple languages as well as subtitled, and it has been used in classrooms and at other events. We encourage its widespread use to improve awareness, and one animation in the series provides bystanders with potential strategies for safe intervention.
By combining rigorous research, authentic survivor narratives, and creative storytelling, this animation series offers a powerful tool for raising awareness and driving action against GBV. It is a vital reminder that combating GBV requires both evidence-informed strategies and a commitment to amplifying the voices of those most affected.
Blog by Dr Polina Obolenskaya, Merili Pullerits and Dr Niels Blom
The UK government is expected to publish its new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy later this year. The strategy is part of a broader ambitious commitment to halve VAWG within a decade. A new combined measure of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and stalking, developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has been proposed to serve as the main benchmark for evaluating progress toward this commitment.
Here we outline three main concerns the VISION consortium has with the proposed approach.
Lack of historical continuity
To assess the effectiveness of the VAWG strategy, historical continuity is crucial. Rates of domestic abuse in England and Wales have declined in recent years (Figure 1). Therefore, any assessment of a decline or rise in VAWG needs to be placed in the context of broader declining violence rates. Without this historical continuity, the government cannot distinguish between improvements driven by their strategy and those resulting from long-term social changes that were already underway.
Figure 1 Prevalence of domestic abuse in the last year among people aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales, 2004/05 to 2023/24
However, the new combined measure disrupts this continuity. This is due to changes to the question wording and structure of its composite measures. The new combined measure of VAWG consists of self-completion data from a newly developed Domestic Abuse module (piloted in 2022/23 and 2024/25, and fully implemented from 2025/26), as well as a combination of the old and new Sexual Victimisation module (piloted in 2025/26 and planned for full implementation from 2026/27).
The new Domestic Abuse module had undergone a complete redevelopment, with extensive negative repercussions for historical continuity, which we have outlined previously. While the sexual victimisation module is not being re-developed as considerably, the comparability of the new data to the previously collected data can only be assessed once the first round of results is available. This means a new stable and comparable measure will not be available in its final form until the 2026/27 data collection, despite the government’s strategy period beginning in 2025/26.
Without historical continuity, it will not be possible to produce long-term trends over time in the composite measure of VAWG for England and Wales for some years to come. Given the decline of some forms of violence in recent decades, it is important to examine whether any decline in VAWG is due to genuine policy success, or due to a continuation of pre-existing trends.
Incomplete scope of violence
While the government has indicated that it intends to supplement the new combined measure of domestic abuse, sexual victimisation and stalking with additional metrics, it is currently unclear what these supplementary measures will include or how they will be weighed against the main benchmark. In any case, the narrow scope of the new combined measure has been raised as a concern both among academics and others working in the sector.
Some of the limitations of the measure are due to the unavailability of certain measures in data it is based on – the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The End Violence Against Women coalition (EVAW) has highlighted that the new measure fails to reflect the full spectrum of violence experienced by women and girls, omitting online abuse, child abuse, ‘honour’-based abuse and sexual harassment (EVAW blog) as well as Female Genital Mutilation (EVAW briefing). These exclusions, as EVAW argues, risk distorting the true scale and impact of VAWG. Additionally, given alarming rates of teenage relationship abuse (e.g. Barter et al., 2009; Fox et al., 2013), we consider its exclusion to be a serious oversight in measuring VAWG – including girls – effectively. Since the combined measure excludes experiences of girls under the age of 16, its use as a main tool to measure government’s ambition to half ‘Violence against women and girls‘ may be misleading.
While the gaps outlined above stem from the limitations of the Crime Survey for England and Wales, we also have concerns about the scope of the measure which could be addressed with the data already available.
Firstly, the new combined measure excludes other offences which count within the CSEW as ‘violent crime’ or violence against a person. While men are more likely to be victims of such offences, disregarding women’s experiences of these risks undercounting their overall risks and impacts of violence (Cooper & Obolenskaya, 2021; Davies et al., 2025). For example, while a substantial amount of VAWG is covered by domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking, women also experience violence in other aspects of life, such as at work or in public spaces. Accounting for the above offences significantly increases the proportion of people experiencing violence and more accurately reflects the extent of violence experienced by women and girls.
Secondly, the new combined measure omits broader violence-related offences, for which data are available in the CSEW. This includes threats of violence and other criminal offences which are coded as ‘non-violent’ by the ONS (due to a methodological process involving priority ordering of offences), even though they involve the threat or use of force or violence (Davies et al., 2025; Pullerits & Phoenix, 2024). These offences should be included in any overall measure of VAWG regardless of who is most affected. However, their omission is especially problematic given that they disproportionately affect women (Davies et al., 2025; Pullerits & Phoenix, 2024), meaning the headline measure is likely to underestimate women’s experiences even further.
Although the government has suggested that other metrics are planned to be used, separately, to assess progress towards halving VAWG, having a narrow main measure risks reinforcing outdated gender norms where women are considered to be more affected by what happens at home rather than outside of it. Such a perspective fails to capture emerging forms of abuse and fails to reflect the full spectrum of women’s lived experiences with violence.
Collected new Domestic Abuse data had not undergone statistical validity and reliability checks and had not been subjected to wider scrutiny (as raised by VISION previously) before the decision to replace the old module with it was finalised.
Changes to the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Victimisation modules appear to have been made independently from each other, with limited coordination across the survey modules. Given the similarity in the phrasing of a few questions across the modules, this lack of foresight and integration appears to have resulted in overlapping content that could lead to confusion both for respondents and for those interpreting the data.
The development process has lacked transparency and consultation with external stakeholders, as raised by EVAW.
Recommendations for improvement
The ONS’s new combined measure of VAWG risks oversimplifying the complex realities of violence against women and girls. Even with supplementary metrics, relying on such a narrow primary benchmark – which lacks historical continuity and is limited in scope – will not adequately support evidence-based policy development or serve the needs of those most affected by violence and abuse.
To ensure more meaningful monitoring, we have three key recommendations to the ONS:
Prioritise historical continuity in Domestic Abuse data collection: We urge the ONS to revert to a Domestic Abuse module that aligns more closely with the previous version to ensure data continuity. While we welcome the inclusion of new questions on coercive control and family-related violence, we strongly believe these additions could be integrated into the long-standing existing framework without disrupting the historical comparability of the data. If a full reversion is not feasible, we recommend that theONS takes steps to ensure meaningful assessment of change and continuity using the new measure. These steps should involve: publishing clear comparability assessments between old and new measures; providing bridging data where methodologically possible; and maintaining transparency about limitations.
Broaden the scope of the ‘combined’ measure and make it explicit that it does not fully reflect the experience of girls: the definition of violence against women and girls should be expanded by using existing CSEW data to include “violence against the person” offences, as well as, possibly, other incidents where violence or threat of violence took place but that are not coded as “violent crime” by ONS. The CSEW currently provides insufficient coverage of technology-facilitated and online abuse, which should be a development priority going forward, given the increasing prevalence of these forms of violence both within domestic contexts but also outside of them. Additionally, since the combined measure does not capture violence experienced by girls under the age of 16, the government needs to make it clear that the headline measure, should it be used in the strategy, reflects only experiences of (young) women, not girls.
Enhance transparency and accountability in survey development: we call on the ONS to address technical and transparency concerns regarding their measures and commit to greater openness in their approach. Any new module should be subject to timely, transparent analysis and external scrutiny of it before it becomes a permanent change in the survey.
If the government is genuinely committed to halving violence against women and girls within a decade, it must first ensure its measurement approach is comprehensive, meaningful and methodologically sound. Relying overwhelmingly on a narrow headline measure risks presenting an incomplete picture of the problem of VAWG, and risks undermining both accountability and progress.
Cooper, K. & Obolenskaya, P. (2021). Hidden Victims: The Gendered Data Gap of Violent Crime, TheBritish Journal of Criminology, 61(4): 905–925. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaa100
Davies, E., Obolenskaya, P., Francis, B., Blom, B., Phoenix, J., Pullerits, M. & Walby, S. (2025). Definition and Measurement of Violence in the Crime Survey for England and Wales: Implications for the Amount and Gendering of Violence, The British Journal of Criminology, 65(2): 261–281. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae050
Fox, C. L., Corr, M. L., Gadd, D., & Butler, I. (2013). Young teenagers’ experiences of domestic abuse, Journal of Youth Studies, 17(4), 510–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2013.780125
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