This week the Home Secretary Priti Patel unveiled the UK Government’s new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls throughout the UK.
The strategy comes as a response to the tragic murder of Sarah Everard who was killed on the 3rd of March by police officer Wayne Couzens while she was walking home from a friend’s house. The murder shook the nation and raised awareness of the dangers faced by women and girls in the United Kingdom.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan admitted at the time that the streets of London are not safe for women, whilst Priti Patel announced she would be working on a package of new laws to protect women against violence.
Fulfilling this promise, the Home Secretary’s new strategy to protect women and girls includes the creation of an online tool called ‘StreetSafe’ that allows women and girls to report places they felt unsafe and what could be done to make them feel safer. This will assist police and local government in making areas safer for women and girls along with increasing local intelligence.
In addition, the strategy sets out to create a “national policing lead on violence against women and girls” and the criminalisation of virginity testing. The strategy also includes a £5 million pound investment into the protection of women and girls in the night-time economy.
Priti Patel announced the strategy saying:
"The safety of women and girls across the country, wherever they are, is an absolute priority for me. It is unacceptable that women and girls are still subject to harassment, abuse, and violence, and I do not accept that violence against women and girls is inevitable… This strategy, shaped by the responses of those who bravely came forward and shared their stories and experiences, will deliver real and lasting change.”
This strategy is the latest in a long line of accomplishments by the Home Office under Priti Patel’s leadership, ranging from introducing a brand-new points-based immigration system to passing the Domestic Abuse Bill through Parliament.
This is just one out of many aspects where the UK Government is levelling up the country and delivering what the people voted for.