Phase Two of Raneem’s Law will place domestic abuse specialists in 12 more 999 control rooms across England and Wales, trebling the number of sites where the initiative is operational, the government announced. The move aims to improve police responses to domestic abuse and follows a successful pilot in five forces.
Survivor Minister Leads the Charge
Natalie Fleet, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, wrote in an article for Metro that she speaks not only as a minister but as a survivor of abuse. She stated that violence against women and girls is a crisis and that the government has pledged to halve these crimes within a decade. “The sad truth is, everyday violence and fear shape the lives of women and girls throughout our country,” she said.
Fleet highlighted that last year one in eight women experienced domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, with around 3.8 million people affected by domestic abuse alone. Police record approximately 200 rapes every day, while many more go unreported. “No society that tolerates this level of violence can claim to be safe for women and girls,” she added.
Remembering Raneem and Khaola
The law is named after Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem. On the night they were murdered, Raneem called 999 four times asking for help. In the months before, 13 other reports had been made to the police about concerns for her safety. “Raneem did what we tell all victims to do. She reported her abuser. She called for help. She kept reaching out. And still, she was murdered. That is more than a failure. That is a moral aberration,” Fleet said.
Fleet paid tribute to Raneem’s aunt, Nour Norris, whose campaigning helped launch Raneem’s Law. The law places domestic abuse specialists inside 999 control rooms to oversee how calls are assessed and managed, provide real-time expert advice to call handlers and officers, review cases and risk assessments, support staff training, and ensure victims are swiftly referred to specialist services.
Phase Two Expansion
The initial pilot placed specialists in West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Humberside and Northumbria. Early police reports indicate stronger engagement with victims, quicker identification of high-risk cases, and faster, better-informed action to protect women.
Phase Two will extend the initiative to 12 additional control rooms, trebling the number of sites. Fleet announced that as part of the Prime Minister’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, Raneem’s Law will be rolled out across all police forces in England and Wales by 2029. “Because every victim – no matter where they live – should be able to rely on a system built to protect them,” she said.
Government’s Broader Strategy
At the end of last year, the Prime Minister launched the VAWG Strategy with over 200 pledges to stop violence before it starts, pursue perpetrators relentlessly, and better support victims and survivors. Fleet said the government will “deploy the full power of the state to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.”
Fleet praised Metro’s “This Is Not Right” campaign for shining a light on the scale of violence against women and girls. “For too long, we’ve said ‘enough is enough’ and continued as we were. We owe it to Raneem, to Khaola, and to every victim of abuse whose life has been cut short. We cannot afford to fail,” she concluded.
