UNITED KINGDOM - An official report has found that a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have yet to implement "basic policies for investigating sexual offenses" despite promises of change after the murder of Sarah Everard four years ago.
The report by Dame Elish Angiolini follows an inquiry set up after Everard was murdered by serving police officer, Wayne Couzens in March of 2021. She was abducted off a London street while walking home, the Guardian reported.
Despite the promises of sweeping changes to make women feel safer as they walk the streets, Angiolini condemned a "paralysis" hampering improvements even though sexual crimes against women in public were "widespread." The second part of her report says recommendations from the first part of her report, published more than a year ago, are yet to be implemented.
Some of these recommendations include a ban on joining the police for those cautioned or convicted of sex offenses. The report says police and government do not know the scale of attacks on women in public spaces by strangers, and the promises that were made from those in power after Everard's murder are not being met.
"Twenty-six percent of police forces have yet to implement basic policies for investigating sexual offences including indecent exposure," Angiolini wrote in her report. The names of forces without policies were supplied to the inquiry by the National Police Chiefs' Council, and the time were Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Cleveland, and the Met.
The Met has since created a policy. Angiolini said that "a troubling lack of momentum, funding and ambition for prevention work" are among the issues. She said the demand in her first report that sexual offenders should be banned from policing has not yet been met.
The report says the focus needs to be on predatory men who attack women, not just better street lighting or safety advice to women. She also called for a tolerance or acquiescence of misogyny to end and said anti-women content online may contribute to violence on the streets and "shape" the views of what is normal and acceptable behavior.
In the report, Everard's mother, Susan, says she is still "tormented" by the horror of what her daughter suffered at the hands of Couzens. Angiolini said there needs to be better police investigations of attackers, and also better mapping of attacks to know more about the "patterns of behavior" of male offenders.
Her report said that too many women do not feel safe walking Britain's streets. She said the efforts made by police forces since her report launched were "fragmented, underfunded, and overly reliant on short-term solutions." She added: "There is an urgent need to refocus on preventing offenders from offending and perpetrators from reoffending."
Police programs such as Project Vigilant, which targets predators at clubs and bars, and Operation Soteria, which aims to increase the number of sexual assault investigations resulting in a charge, are praised signs of hope. She said she welcomes the Labour government's pledge to cut violence in half against women and girls in the last decade.
The report praises "excellent" work and initiatives to increase women's safety after Everard's murder but demands a "laser" focus on predatory men and says prevention work to stop them before they attack is "underfunded and under-prioritised."
Angiolini said despite promises, violence against women and girls was not being taken seriously as counter-terrorism. "Too often prevention in this space remains just words. Until this disparity is addressed, violence against women and girls cannot credibly be called a national priority," she said.
Angiolini is a former top law officer in Scotland. She made 13 new recommendations in the second part of her report.
"It is deeply concerning that, nearly two years on, policing has still not implemented basic reforms such as a ban on officers with sexual offence histories ... Women cannot be expected to trust a system that resists naming misogyny and racism, and continually fails to change," Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, said in a statement.
The report by Dame Elish Angiolini follows an inquiry set up after Everard was murdered by serving police officer, Wayne Couzens in March of 2021. She was abducted off a London street while walking home, the Guardian reported.
Despite the promises of sweeping changes to make women feel safer as they walk the streets, Angiolini condemned a "paralysis" hampering improvements even though sexual crimes against women in public were "widespread." The second part of her report says recommendations from the first part of her report, published more than a year ago, are yet to be implemented.
Some of these recommendations include a ban on joining the police for those cautioned or convicted of sex offenses. The report says police and government do not know the scale of attacks on women in public spaces by strangers, and the promises that were made from those in power after Everard's murder are not being met.
"Twenty-six percent of police forces have yet to implement basic policies for investigating sexual offences including indecent exposure," Angiolini wrote in her report. The names of forces without policies were supplied to the inquiry by the National Police Chiefs' Council, and the time were Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Cleveland, and the Met.
The Met has since created a policy. Angiolini said that "a troubling lack of momentum, funding and ambition for prevention work" are among the issues. She said the demand in her first report that sexual offenders should be banned from policing has not yet been met.
The report says the focus needs to be on predatory men who attack women, not just better street lighting or safety advice to women. She also called for a tolerance or acquiescence of misogyny to end and said anti-women content online may contribute to violence on the streets and "shape" the views of what is normal and acceptable behavior.
In the report, Everard's mother, Susan, says she is still "tormented" by the horror of what her daughter suffered at the hands of Couzens. Angiolini said there needs to be better police investigations of attackers, and also better mapping of attacks to know more about the "patterns of behavior" of male offenders.
Her report said that too many women do not feel safe walking Britain's streets. She said the efforts made by police forces since her report launched were "fragmented, underfunded, and overly reliant on short-term solutions." She added: "There is an urgent need to refocus on preventing offenders from offending and perpetrators from reoffending."
Police programs such as Project Vigilant, which targets predators at clubs and bars, and Operation Soteria, which aims to increase the number of sexual assault investigations resulting in a charge, are praised signs of hope. She said she welcomes the Labour government's pledge to cut violence in half against women and girls in the last decade.
The report praises "excellent" work and initiatives to increase women's safety after Everard's murder but demands a "laser" focus on predatory men and says prevention work to stop them before they attack is "underfunded and under-prioritised."
Angiolini said despite promises, violence against women and girls was not being taken seriously as counter-terrorism. "Too often prevention in this space remains just words. Until this disparity is addressed, violence against women and girls cannot credibly be called a national priority," she said.
Angiolini is a former top law officer in Scotland. She made 13 new recommendations in the second part of her report.
"It is deeply concerning that, nearly two years on, policing has still not implemented basic reforms such as a ban on officers with sexual offence histories ... Women cannot be expected to trust a system that resists naming misogyny and racism, and continually fails to change," Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, said in a statement.
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