- Police recorded more than a million crimes against women and girls in 2022/23
- These incidents accounted for almost a fifth of all offences excluding fraud
- Records of VAWG incidents have increased by 37 per cent in just five years
Police chiefs have blamed influencers such as Andrew Tate for fuelling an ‘epidemic’ of violence against women and girls.
A new report published on Tuesday revealed police recorded more than a million crimes against women and girls in 2022/23 – accounting for almost a fifth of all offences excluding fraud – leading bosses to label the crisis a ‘national emergency’.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, national lead for policing violence against women and girls, said ‘toxic’ misogynist Tate’s influence on young boys online was ‘quite terrifying’.
Tate, who has millions of followers on social media, faces criminal charges in Romania for rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, which he denies.
Reacting to the report, Lisa Squire, whose daughter Libby was raped and murdered after being kidnapped walking home after a night out in 2019, claimed that social media and internet pornography played a ‘big part’ in poisoning boys’ thoughts.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, national lead for policing violence against women and girls, said ‘toxic’ misogynist Andrew Tate’s influence on young boys online was ‘quite terrifying’
Police recorded more than a million crimes against women and girls in 2022/23 – accounting for almost a fifth of all offences excluding fraud
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Ms Squire said: ‘I think there is a lot of influence on social media. The whole bravado thing between boys. I have got a son who is 16 and he has not been brought up that way. He doesn’t behave that way. Maybe education starts at home and in schools.
‘Their brains are not formed enough to understand these things. So that [the internet] has a big part to play in it.’
Ms Squire also called for tougher sentences for gateway offences to more violent crimes against women and girls.
She told the ITV show: ‘We accept these lower-level offences happening to us, and it’s ‘Oh, nobody was hurt’.
‘They don’t get long sentences – it could take two or three years to get to court and they might get a six-month or eight-month sentence, or suspended, so (victims ask) is it worth it?’
Police records of VAWG incidents have increased by 37 per cent in just five years, the report from the National Police Chiefs’ Council found.
And child sexual abuse and exploitation offences have soared by 435 per cent between 2013 and 2022, the report estimated – from just over 20,000 to nearly 107,000.
One in 20 adults or 2.3 million people in England and Wales are perpetrators of such violence every year, the report estimated, with the actual number thought to be significantly higher.
Reacting to the report, Lisa Squire, whose daughter Libby was raped and murdered after being kidnapped walking home after a night out in 2019, claimed that social media and internet pornography played a ‘big part’ in poisoning boys’ thoughts
The age of offenders is also getting younger, with the average age of a suspect for child sexual abuse and exploitation now 15.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said the force were taking the findings of the report ‘incredibly seriously’ and were working ‘harder than ever’ to improve their response to these crimes.
She told GMB: ‘We are dealing with this in the way we deal with issues of terrorism and other significant threats. Ensuring that we have a police response that is capable and officers are trained.
‘The reason we want to get this information out there is that this is the tip of the iceberg and police must deal with perpetrators effectively. But others must work with us to.
‘The growing group for perpetrators are people under the age of 18 and policing is not the best solution for those people.’
Police were heavily criticised for failing to properly investigate accusations of indecent exposure against Wayne Couzens before the then-serving officer raped and murdered Sarah Everard after snatching her off the street as she walked home.
Asked by presenter Charlotte Hawkins on what measures the Police were taking to tackle this issue, Commissioner Rolfe said: ‘We are working to ensure that we have a national centre for public protection.
‘We have been working on a number of areas like rape and sexual offences, increasing arrests for rape by more than a quarter in the last year… increased prosecutions to bring more people to justice.
‘But offences like domestic abuse we have been working with the Crown Prosecution Service to improve prosecutions and we are working with many different charities to support women and girls everyday.’
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe (pictured) said the force were taking the findings of the report ‘incredibly seriously’ and were working ‘harder than ever’ to improve their response to these crimes
Deputy chief constable Maggie Blyth also warned that online influencers like Andrew Tate could radicalise young men into extreme misogyny in the same way terrorists draw in followers.
DCC Blyth said some of this was linked to the radicalisation of young people online.
‘We know the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing of particularly boys, is quite terrifying and that’s something that both the leads for counterterrorism in the country and ourselves from a VAWG perspective are discussing,’ she added.
Violence against women and girls was classed as a national threat to public safety by the Home Office in February 2023 and DCC Blyth said a national framework had brought the police response in line with that of counter-terrorism.
More than 4,500 new officers have been trained to investigate rape and serious sexual offences over the last year, with the report detailing a 38 per cent increase in charges for adult rape from the year ending December 2022 to the year ending December 2023.
DCC Blyth said society could ‘no longer accept violence against women and girls as inevitable’.
‘Violence against women and girls is a national emergency,’ she added.
‘We need the support and direction of government to intervene and address the current problems within the criminal justice system and lead the way on a whole-system approach to violence against women and girls.’
Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has reached ‘epidemic’ levels, with at least one in twelve females becoming a victim each year, the deputy chief executive of the College of Policing said
Associate head of policy at the NSPCC, Clare Kelly, said the scale of offending against girls was ‘frightening’ and required a society-wide response.
She called on the Government to set out child abuse prevention plans and ensure victims had a legal right to support services, and urged tech companies to stop boys being targeted with misogynistic content.
‘Schools also need support to deliver effective relationships and sex education that is high-quality, inclusive and relevant to the realities of children’s lives, to embed a culture where girls are safe, heard and empowered and healthy relationships thrive,’ Ms Kelly added.
Director at the End Violence Against Women coalition, Andrea Simon, said the NPCC report must not simply be another piece of paper that failed to result in change.
‘Today’s plans signal intent, but we are a long way from seeing change filter down to the culture and practices of police forces, or deliver more joined up working,’ she added.
‘We don’t want to see another piece of paper that doesn’t deliver tangible change – women’s lives lie in the balance.’