Responding to the Home Office’s white paper on policing reform, Refuge has warned that rebuilding women’s confidence in policing will require decisive action, not rhetoric, after years of abuse and misconduct within the system.
Bo Bottomley, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Refuge, said the scale of police-perpetrated abuse has left trust in the force “at an all-time low”, and called for fundamental cultural change alongside tougher safeguards.
“After countless reports of police-perpetrated abuse, it is no wonder women’s confidence in policing is at an all-time low,” she said.
“Refuge has long called for a major shift in police culture and practices, with urgent action needed to root out perpetrators from within the force and greatly improve vetting practices.”
Refuge welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to reform, set out in this week’s white paper and echoed in last month’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. Proposals to strengthen vetting and misconduct systems – including national mandatory vetting standards and clearer requirements to suspend officers under investigation for VAWG-related offences – were described as critical steps towards tackling entrenched misogyny within policing.
“Plans to strengthen vetting and misconduct systems… will be critical to rooting out perpetrators and addressing the culture of misogyny that has pervaded police forces for years,” Bottomley said.
However, Refuge cautioned that reform must also translate into better frontline responses. Police handling of domestic abuse remains inconsistent, with survivors often facing a “postcode lottery” in the support and protection they receive.
The organisation welcomed the white paper’s focus on enhanced public protection training, particularly for frontline officers dealing with domestic abuse and other forms of VAWG. With most crimes now involving some element of technology, Refuge stressed that officers must be properly equipped to identify and investigate tech-facilitated abuse.
“The white paper rightly recognises that most crimes, including domestic abuse, now involve some form of technology,” Bottomley said.
“It is therefore vital that this training equips all officers with the knowledge and practical skills required to identify, investigate and gather evidence of tech-facilitated abuse.”
The Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls by 2034, but Refuge warned that meeting this target will depend on whether reforms are delivered swiftly and transparently.
“Achieving this will require serious action to address the systemic shortfalls in policing that have left thousands of survivors without the justice they deserve,” Bottomley said.
“Policing reforms must be implemented as a matter of urgency, with clear detail on delivery timelines and plans for monitoring.”
Refuge said it would continue to work with the Government to ensure survivors’ voices and needs remain central as reforms move from paper to practice.
