Labour's landmark crackdown on violence against women and girls will be a turning point for victims and justice

Tonia Antoniazzi, MP for Gower, has welcomed a landmark package of measures announced by the UK Labour Government to protect thousands more women and children from domestic abuse, calling it "a turning point in how we pursue those who cause harm, prevent reoffending, and protect victims".
 
The announcement, led by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Minister for Safeguarding Jess Phillips, focusses on direct targeting of the most dangerous offenders. It will see £53 million invested over the next four years to roll out the Drive Project, which forces domestic abuse perpetrators who pose the highest risk to change their behaviour and stop their offending.
 
The initiative, which has been rolled out in trial areas, has seen percentages of perpetrators using physical abuse cut by 82%, sexual abuse by 88%, stalking behaviours by 75% and jealous and controlling behaviours by 73%.
 
A further £230,000 will expand Project Vigilant, which uses specially trained officers to identify and deter predatory behaviour in public spaces, including nightlife hotspots.
 
Tonia Antoniazzi, Member of Parliament for Gower said, “We must put an end to the epidemic of violence faced by women and girls in every part of the country, and these measures show that this UK Labour Government is taking this seriously.”
 
"By tackling the root causes of abuse and relentlessly pursuing perpetrators who pose a risk to women and girls, we will break the cycle of domestic violence and ensure survivors are no longer left to shoulder the burden alone or continually uproot their lives.
 
“Instead, the Drive Project forces high-risk perpetrators to change their behaviour through a coordinated programme of police intervention and monitoring, the use of protection orders, substance misuse support, and behaviour change interventions. Crucially, victims will receive ongoing support so they can begin to rebuild their lives with confidence and stability.
 
Tonia also welcomed the announcement as part of a wider mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
 
Tonia said, “The Labour Government has already taken significant steps, including introducing Raneem’s Law, embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and introducing new offences in the Crime and Policing Bill to tackle spiking, stalking and intimate image abuse.
 
I look forward to the upcoming VAWG strategy which will set out further bold action to transform the system's response to these devastating crimes, including on prevention, early intervention, enforcement and victim support.
 
The MP also highlighted Labour’s commitment to tackling group-based child sexual exploitation.
 
“Following years of delay under the previous government, Labour is now implementing all 12 recommendations from Baroness Casey’s national audit, including launching a new national criminal operation to put more grooming gang perpetrators behind bars.
 
“We owe it to survivors of child sexual abuse to deliver justice. That’s why it was so important for Labour to commission a new independent statutory inquiry to investigate the scale of these abhorrent crimes, reopen historic cases, and identify the cultural drivers of these offences.