In an alarming revelation yesterday, a report referred to as the ‘National Report on Violence Against Women and Girls in England and Wales’ has informed that the violence against women and girls has become an emergency. Launched on Tuesday, the study embarked on by two law enforcement agencies suggested that at least every 12 women would become victims of these crimes every year.
It identified that one million two hundred and thirty-five thousand and three violent crimes against women and girls were reported by the police, constituting 19 % of total police-reported crimes, not including fraud, for the period April 2022 to March 2023.
More alarmingly, the criminal statistics show that this violence had risen by 37% in 2018-2019 as compared to the previous year. Among these, the domestic abuse was one of the primary factors.
Maggie Blyth, a senior police chief, stressed that the problem has become dramatic and stated that one out of every twenty adults in England and Wales, or 2,077,500 people, are affected. 304, 280 men and boys are said to be committing one form of violence against women and girls every minute.
3 million people are estimated to be committing these acts per year. The report also points out tendencies in child sexual abuse and exploitation offenses that have extremely surged 435 percent between 2013 and 2022.
In response, the British government announced violence against women and girls as a serious menace to public security last year. Of course, certain steps have been taken following the establishment of ACPO, such as training more than 4,500 new officers to investigate serious offenses. Still, Blyth earnestly appeals for more government action to deal with what she describes as the overwhelmed criminal justice system.
