A landmark inquiry has delivered a scathing verdict on the police response to violence against women and girls, warning that too little is being done to prevent offences despite the issue being declared a national emergency.
Systemic Failures and Inconsistency
Lady Elish Angiolini, who led the independent inquiry established after the murder of Sarah Everard, stated she discovered an "unacceptable level of inconsistency" across police forces in England and Wales. She revealed that "too many" offenders are evading justice due to systemic cracks.
Presenting her long-awaited report on December 2, 2025, Lady Angiolini emphasised that data on male perpetrators is "limited and disjointed," severely hampering efforts to understand and solve the crisis. "This is not just in relation to early intervention," she explained. "It includes ensuring measures are effective in preventing known offenders from committing further sexual offences against women in public spaces."
Overstretched Resources and Broken Promises
The report highlights a stark contradiction between official rhetoric and reality. Although violence against women and girls was classified as a national threat in the 2023 strategic policing requirement, the inquiry found the overall response lacks the funding and preventative action dedicated to other high-priority crimes.
"Police, prison and probation resources are overstretched and underfunded," Lady Angiolini stated, noting that an overburdened system is allowing dangerous individuals to slip through the net. She criticised the gap between the police's "national commitment to relentlessly pursue perpetrators" and the inconsistent application on the ground.
A Mother's Enduring Grief
The inquiry was launched following the abduction, rape, and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in March 2021 by serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens. In a poignant foreword to the report, Sarah's mother, Susan, shared her family's ongoing trauma.
"I am not yet at the point where happy memories of Sarah come to the fore," she wrote. "When I think of her, I can’t get past the horror of her last hours. I am still tormented by the thought of what she endured." She described an "inner sadness" and the theft of a future that included weddings and grandchildren.
This report constitutes the second part of the Angiolini Inquiry's findings, focusing on women's safety in public spaces. The first phase, published last year, concluded that Couzens should never have been a police officer and that multiple opportunities to stop him were missed.
Lady Angiolini issued a clear call to action: "Women have been clear and consistent. It is now time for the government and wider society to focus on disrupting the perpetrators. This has to start with prevention." She stressed that offenders must be stopped and prevented from re-offending.
The findings emerge amid ongoing government-led police reforms, including new rules to automatically dismiss officers guilty of gross misconduct. However, the inquiry chair has previously warned that without a radical overhaul of policing practices and culture, there is "nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight."
