International Women's Day launched over a hundred years ago to celebrate the achievements of women in different areas across society, work, culture and politics. Progress has been made in various areas, but violence against women and girls (VAWG) and incidents of rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) remain a prevalent issue that has a significant impact on women.
According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, around 1.4 million women experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023. These crimes still make up 18% of all reported crimes in England and Wales. Online abuse is also becoming more prevalent, and it disproportionately affects women, who are up to 27 times more likely to experience online abuse compared to men. About 36% of women have encountered online abuse on social media, and this number increases to 62% among young women.
Additionally, there is increasing evidence of a connection between offline and online offenses, with up to a third of domestic abuse survivors reporting instances of online harassment, abuse, or control from a current or former partner.
On this day, we felt it important to showcase the impactful work of techUK's ‘VAWG and RASSO Tech' Working Group which aims to raise awareness about these important issues and initiate a significant call to action.
While we work to tackle VAWG and RASSO, it is essential to acknowledge that although technology alone cannot fully solve all the issues in this space, using it at the right time, in the right way can really support victims and law enforcement. It is all about using tech for good, driving innovation and improving multi-agency collaboration to protect women and girls.
“The ambition is for the working group to support policing to effect real change in tackling VAWG and RASSO issues. We work together in order to provide advice thought leadership, highlight existing solutions, innovate and collaborate to provide new solutions. It's a real privilege to Chair the group and being able to combine my policing experience with work in the tech industry in order to make a difference in an area that I care so passionately about.”
(Naomi Bolton, VAWG and RASSO Working Group Chair)
The group, made up of tech industry, police, policymakers, academics and technical specialists, has been actively collaborating with public sector bodies, supporting, through a digital lens, the positive developments in policing to tackle VAWG and RASSO and improve services for victims. The VAWG and RASSO Tech Working Group serves as a communication platform for industry, policing and partners, aimed at sharing information on new developments and avoid duplicating efforts, embracing a “problem focused rather than solution driven” approach.
Click here for the full press release