Home Office not doing enough to keep women and girls safe, watchdog says

The report noted that three separate strategies aimed at reducing VAWG have been published since 2010, when the Conservative party began its 14 years in power.

But the NAO said its own analysis of Office for National Statistics data showed the percentage of women aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales to have suffered a sexual assault was estimated to be 4.3% in 2023-24, up from 3.4% in 2009-10.

It said incidents of rape and sexual assault recorded by police had increased almost fourfold during the same period, from 34,000 to 123,000 – but cautioned that this could be partially explained by improved recording of these crimes.

The NAO also found “little evidence” that the Home Office had improved on earlier strategies, while the department and the wider government had “a poor understanding of what works to prevent and tackle VAWG”.

The report added that as part of the 2021 strategy, at least £4.2m had been spent on research into preventing VAWG, but the projects it funded were “yet to provide insights to inform any future interventions”.

The report noted that “low charge rate and long wait times” contributed to a considerable number of rape victims dropping out before cases reached a conviction.

Meanwhile, only a minority of domestic abuse cases recorded by police led to charges, the NAO said.