A recent official inquiry has sounded the alarm: police in the UK must urgently overhaul how they handle sexual crimes against women and girls. The report finds that despite years of promises following high-profile tragedies, many police forces still lack basic investigative policies. It stresses that without coherent data, consistent procedures, and a focus on offenders, efforts to protect women remain superficial — and justice remains out of reach.
Lack of Uniform Policies and Data Gaps
The inquiry reveals a startling fact: roughly 26% of police forces in England and Wales do not have specialist policies for handling sexual offences — including non-contact crimes such as indecent exposure. Many authorities still rely on ad hoc or fragmented procedures.
Adding to the concern, the report notes significant gaps in national data. Authorities cannot accurately state how many women were assaulted by strangers in public areas last year. This lack of consistent record-keeping means law enforcement cannot identify patterns or measure the effectiveness of prevention efforts.
From Promises to Prevention: Calling for Real Change
The inquiry’s authors argue that past attempts — such as improved lighting, public safety campaigns, or short-term awareness drives — have not gone far enough. They warn against focusing on victim behaviour (e.g. telling women to stay alert); instead, the emphasis must shift to targeting predatory men and preventing offenders from re-offending.
The report lays out a series of concrete reforms: mandatory specialist policies for all police forces, systematic data collection on sexual offences, shared national databases, and early-intervention programmes aimed at identifying “warning-sign” behaviours before violence occurs.
Urgency Amplified by Past Failures
The inquiry arises in the wake of high-profile failures — most notably the murder of a woman by a serving police officer, a crime that exposed glaring shortcomings in vetting, oversight, and response systems. Despite prior reports and pledges, many of the recommended reforms remain incomplete or unimplemented.
The authors warn that without swift, unified action, women will continue to be vulnerable — and trust in the policing system will remain fractured.
