New data for England and Wales reveals that complaints about police officers’ treatment of women are highly unlikely to result in action. Over a six month period to March 2022, nine in 10 complaints were dropped, The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) says. Among the complaints, 63% included use of force, 9% overbearing or harassing behaviour, and 6% sexual assault.
1,539 officers had been involved in alleged police violence against women
The data found that 1,539 officers had been involved in alleged police-perpetrated violence against women and girls. And as a result of under-reporting from police staff and inaccuracies in data collection across forces, the true figures are estimated to be far higher.
The NPCC report follows the case of serial rapist and former Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick who was convicted in February for violent and degrading sexual offences against a dozen women over two decades. It also follows the case of former Met officer Wayne Couzens who was sentenced to 19 months in jail for six incidents of indecent exposure in March after receiving a whole-life sentence for the murder of Sarah Everard.
“We need to be harsher in the sanctions”
“We need to be harsher in the sanctions that we are imposing upon anyone where there are allegations of this type of behaviour,” Maggie Blyth, NPCC co-ordinator for violence against women and girls, told the BBC. Blyth said next year’s data would likely show more cases “as we shine the light and turn those stones, but speeding up that dismissal and removal from the service.”
During the same six month period, the council also looked at violence against women and girls generally. The data showed 447,431 complaints of domestic abuse crimes and at least 507,827 crimes of violence against women and girls. Similar to other crimes, just 6% of these complaints resulted in charges.
Support from the force is “very minimal”
Survivors of domestic abuse told BBC News that support from police is inadequate.
Deborah Jones, Founder of the survivor support group Resolute, told BBC News: “Domestic abuse is destroying women and children’s lives on a daily basis.”
Another woman said she had been covered in bruises on the chest and neck after her abuser attempted to strangle her in the street, and a member of the public called the police, but support from the force was “very minimal”.
“They didn’t even take me back home.”
“They have no compassion whatsoever,” said an older woman.
“They make you feel like it’s your fault for going with this person in the first place.”
In another case, a woman struggled to even contact the investigating officer.
“I found out in October who the officer was. I didn’t get any more contact from her until January. She didn’t respond to any of my messages,” she said.
Police say they’re “continuously working” to better its response
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said the police was “continuously working” to better its response to domestic abuse by listening to the experiences of survivors and delivering specialist training to staff in direct contact with victims and their perpetrators.
“Often victims live in fear behind closed doors and may find it difficult to come forward, which is why we’re committed to bringing those responsible to justice and supporting those affected,” said the statement.
Final thought
With nine in 10 complaints of police-perpetrated violence dropped, it’s obvious that something must be done to improve responses to violence against women and girls. The new annual assessment of police performance by the NPCC and College of Policing will help spread awareness about the harsh realities women and girls are facing, but much more needs to be done to tackle rampant sexism and misogyny in the force.
The murder of Sarah Everard put police misogyny under the spotlight but recent figures reveal that the response to violence against women and girls has not improved, and police forces, crime commissioners, probation and the courts must be held accountable.
Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, said the statistics showed “the staggering scale of violence against women and girls” and had “deeply worrying implications for women’s already low levels of trust in the criminal justice system”.
