Restored responds to government’s Violence Against Women and Girls strategy
Posted by Jenni James on 18 December 2025
We are pleased to see the government publish its cross-government strategy for halving Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) today. We commend the strategy’s ambition and its aim to take a ‘whole society’ approach to ending VAWG.
Focus on early intervention and prevention is welcome, recognising that the rapidly changing digital landscape is making it easier and easier for young people to access harmful content that encourages misogynistic attitudes. It is vital that schools, teachers and all those working with young people are given proper tools and training to effectively recognise and respond in appropriate ways, as soon as possible.
Improving understanding of VAWG in the justice system will also be crucial to the success of the strategy. Victims and survivors must feel able to report to the police without fear, knowing that they will be taken seriously at every stage. As law enforcement is given greater powers to respond to VAWG, this must go hand in hand with efforts to rebuild trust. Embedding trauma-informed responses across the justice system will be key.
As an organisation committed to walking alongside survivors as they navigate recovery from the trauma of abuse, we echo the strategy’s aim to see a ‘joined-up, survivor centred’ system. All too often, the women we support at Restored have been re-traumatised by the Family Court, and so we look forward to seeing changes made so that the safety of victims and survivors, particularly children, is placed at the centre.
Crucial to providing effective support to victims and survivors is ensuring that specialist services are accessible to every woman in every community, meeting the complex needs of survivors from all backgrounds. While the strategy includes measures to encourage reporting of abuse by migrant victims and survivors, more must be done to ensure that specific resources are allocated to specialist services for the most vulnerable women. Support must be available that meets the particular intersectional needs of survivors, including faith, ethnicity and migration status.
About Restored
Find out more about our work speak up about the realities of violence against women and girls, and to equip the Church to stand against domestic abuse and support survivors.
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