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Gender Based Violence

Asked by Shivani RajaConservativeHome OfficeTabled Answered 23 March 2026UIN 121640

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what metrics are being used to measure progress on reducing violence against women and girls.

Answered by Jess Phillips

We will measure progress against our ambition to halve VAWG is through a headline metric of the combined prevalence estimate of the proportion of people (aged 16 and over) who experienced any of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking in the previous 12 months, as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Given the complexity and breadth of these crimes, a single metric cannot fully capture progress. We will therefore track a set of supporting headline metrics, focused on female homicide, repeat domestic abuse, and the prevalence of sexual harassment.

These measures will be underpinned by a wider range of sub-metrics, such as measures of online harms, to assess progress across government against the pillars of the Strategy.

Further detail on our performance framework can be found on page 70 of Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy.

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