At the end of September 2022, the Police Service of Northern Ireland launched the first Tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan. Now, six months on, officers have arrested 239 perpetrators under new legislation, in their bid to relentlessly pursue perpetrators.
On International Women’s Day, Wednesday 8th March, the Service has published updates on the actions within their targeted plan and is reaffirming its commitment to building trust and confidence, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and making all spaces safer for women and girls.
Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher said: “This year’s theme is ‘Embrace Equity’, we stand in solidarity with those in our society committed to ensuring women and girls feel equally safe.”
Coercive control domestic abuse and stalking both became criminal offences under new legislation for Northern Ireland in 2022. Since the launch of the Service’s action plan, officers have targeted and arrested 239 perpetrators of these crimes against women and girls.
Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher added: “We are proactively tracking reports of violence, abuse and intimidation against women and girls and targeting neighbourhood policing resources to locations where they have reported feeling unsafe. We want to have a deterring presence in these areas.
“A total of 6,500 officers and staff have also undergone revised training on domestic abuse, encompassing coercive control and 4,000 are now trained to recognise and respond to stalking.
“We are using every power available to us and sending a strong message to perpetrators, that we are actively pursuing you and we won’t stop. This activity is firmly embedded into our business as usual and we want to see reporting figures and outcome rates continue to increase as a result.”
Other progress made to date against actions with the policing plan have been published today on the Police Service’s website and include:
- An update on safeguarding initiatives like ‘Ask for Angela’ and ‘Ask for Ani’.
- Information on the Service’s new Designing Out Crime Officers who will work with local businesses and events on solutions to prevent criminality.
- How the service is taking a zero tolerance approach to proven cases of sexual or domestic misconduct involving officers or staff.
Read the full update here: What we are doing to tackle violence against women and girls? | PSNI