Violence Against Women & Girls

Tackling Violence Against Women & Girls: a Joint Strategy 2019-2024

Violence against women includes a wide range of areas including domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and so called “honour” based violence. The stark reality is that women are more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than men, which contrasts with all other types of violent crime when men are more likely to be victims. During 2022/23 there were 32,315 reported incidents of domestic abuse in South Wales.

With Partners and the Chief Constable, we have recently developed the Tackling Violence Against Women & Girls: a Joint Strategy 2019-2024

VAWG is highlighted as a priority in the South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy which focuses on 4 main areas:

• Enhanced Collaboration
• Prevention & Early Intervention
• Safeguarding
• Perpetrators

What about violence against men?

We know that men and boys can also be affected by this type of abuse and are also victims of violence. We will ensure that the police continue to offer the best possible service and support to male victims. However, women are known to be disproportionately affected in terms of the number and seriousness of incidents and this is why we are focusing on violence against women and girls.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales says that nearly one in three women will have experienced domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime and nearly one in five women will have experienced some form of sexual violence.

Victim Services  Funding 

Since 2015, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has devolved funding for services to support victims of crime to Police and Crime Commissioners. This funding is allocated via a population matrix formula through an annual grant, allowing Police and Crime Commissioners to decide how best to commission services that meet the needs of victims locally. During 2022, the team were successful in securing additional funding ringfenced to support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Victim Services funded by the Commissioner have continued to help victims cope and recover from the effects of crime and to ensure that the criminal justice system centralises the needs and rights of victims.

The South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner is currently in receipt of £2.8m from the Ministry of Justice for 2025/26 from the following funding streams:

Ministry of Justice Core Victims Funding: £1,490,311

Ringfenced domestic abuse/sexual violence funding: £1,322,854

This funding includes £0.9m to support the provision of a multi-crime victim support service (South Wales Victims Focus). The funding also includes £1.4m towards the provision of Independent Domestic Abuse Advocacy (IDVA) services and a jointly commissioned Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) service to support victims and survivors across the Police Force Area (with this funding including specialist posts who provide specific support for children and young people, older people, victims from racially minoritised communities and male victims).

DRIVE

Drive works with high-harm perpetrators to reduce abuse and increase victim/survivor safety. It has been developed as part of a partnership between Respect, SafeLives, and Social Finance in collaboration with MOPAC, Police & Crime Commissioners, local authorities, and service providers. Drive challenges the central narrative surrounding domestic abuse, asking “why doesn’t he stop” instead of “why doesn’t she leave”.  The Commissioner agreed to expand delivery across all 7 local authority areas in South Wales.

DRIVE continues to realise significant benefits, including victims reporting increased feelings of safety, coupled with a reduction in repeat offending by perpetrators, primarily due to the ability of agencies to work together in both supportive and disruption interventions.

In South Wales, since the start of the service up until the 30th Sept 2024, the number of high harm perpetrators supported is now at 1,684, victims and survivors supported are at 1,938 and the associated children supported at 3,537. In the last 12 months alone, the programme has accepted referrals for 299 perpetrators, with support available for 331 victims/ survivors with 683 associated children. 

Our Team

Megan Stevens – Head of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Safeguarding

Hannah Evans-Price – Policy Officer

Naomi Evans – Policy Officer

Natasha Hankey – Project and Policy Support Officer