The UK government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency, announcing plans to establish specialist rape and sexual offense investigation teams in every police force across England and Wales by 2029.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the move is part of a long delayed strategy aimed at cutting violence against women and girls by half within ten years. The plan, due to be published on Thursday after multiple delays, includes expanded police powers, targeted online enforcement, and nationwide domestic abuse protection orders.
Under the proposals, all police forces will be required to create dedicated teams trained specifically to investigate rape and sexual offenses. The government says these officers will receive specialist instruction to better understand the behavior of perpetrators and the experiences of victims.
More than half of police forces already operate similar units, but Mahmood said access to specialist policing remains inconsistent. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, she described the current system as deeply uneven.
“I have come to the depressing conclusion that the criminal justice system fails women,” Mahmood said, adding that justice too often depends on where a victim lives.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley welcomed the announcement, saying the policy would extend methods already used in London. He said the Metropolitan Police applies “the same relentless determination we use to combat terrorism” to violence against women and girls through its V100 initiative, which identifies men who pose the highest risk.
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The strategy also includes a nationwide rollout of domestic abuse protection orders, following pilot schemes over the past year. These orders can ban abusers from contacting victims, entering their homes, or posting harmful material online. Breaching an order is a criminal offense.
Mahmood said early evidence from the pilots had been “very, very positive,” with a significant number of arrests for violations. She stressed that the orders shift responsibility away from victims.
“They take the onus off the woman to chase her abuser through the legal system and place it firmly with the police,” she said.
In response to growing online harassment, the government will invest nearly £2 million in undercover police units focused on identifying and targeting abuse and threats against women and girls on the internet.
Ministers are also considering expanding Clare’s Law to cover offenses such as stalking, sexual assault, and harassment. The law currently allows individuals to ask police whether a partner has a history of domestic abuse.
The strategy follows a report released earlier this month which found that more than a quarter of police forces had failed to implement basic procedures for investigating sexual crimes. The report warned that sexually motivated attacks in public spaces remain widespread and poorly tracked.
The plan’s repeated delays have drawn criticism from across Parliament. Earlier this week, the chairs of three Commons select committees formally raised concerns over the lack of progress.
The government says the strategy will focus on preventing radicalization among young men, stopping repeat offenders, and improving support for victims. Survivors have told the BBC that swift action now matters more than further debate.
Conservative shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the announcement as “too little, too late,” criticizing both the timeline and the funding levels. He said it was disappointing the strategy had taken more than a year to emerge.
Philp acknowledged that successive governments had treated the issue seriously but said the justice system remained slow and burdened by process changes introduced after a collapsed prosecution in 2017.
The government insists the reforms mark a turning point, with Mahmood saying the aim is nothing less than rebuilding trust in policing and justice for women across the country.