Government's Violence Against Women and Girls Target Also Includes Men but Not Girls
Sky News analysis reveals that around 40% of victims classified under the government's Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) measure are adult men, rather than women or girls.
The government has labeled VAWG a national emergency and aims to reduce it by half within a decade as outlined in the Freedom From Violence and Abuse strategy.
A new VAWG measure developed by the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) encompasses offences including domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence, sexual harassment, honour-based abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM), online abuse, fatal VAWG, sexual exploitation, and spiking.
In the year ending March 2025, there were approximately 5.1 million VAWG offences recorded, with roughly 2 million involving men. Notably, data excludes under-16s, a point that has drawn criticism from some who argue that data should include girls. The Home Office maintains that children under 16 are covered by the strategy with specific commitments, and some police forces have begun collecting data on girls.
Overall, about one in ten adults in England and Wales were affected, with the most common offences being sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and stalking. Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data show that 2.36% of people aged 16 and over experienced sexual assault in 2024/25; 3.6% of women and 0.6% of men experienced unwanted sexual touching, while rape or attempted rape affected 0.4% of women and 0.1% of men.
Details regarding funding for the strategy remain unclear in terms of what is new funding versus existing allocations. Examples include £2 million for a specialist police unit, £500 million for housing domestic abuse victims since 2022, £5 million to train health workers, £20 million to train teachers, and £500 million to support victims in various ways, replacing previous local authority services.
