The UK Government has published a new national strategy, Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls (December 2025). The strategy sets out a 10-year ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) and represents a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to tackling abuse
A national mission
The strategy frames violence against women and girls as a national moral mission, recognising the devastating and lifelong impact of domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, harassment and other forms of gender-based violence. It highlights that abuse affects women and girls across every community and setting, including homes, workplaces, schools, public spaces and online.
Domestic abuse is identified as a central component of violence against women and girls, alongside stalking, sexual violence, ‘honour’-based abuse, online and technology-facilitated abuse, and fatal violence.
Three core pillars
The strategy is built around three overarching priorities:
1. Prevention and early intervention
A strong focus is placed on preventing abuse before it starts by tackling root causes such as misogyny, harmful gender norms and online influences. This includes education on healthy relationships, safeguarding children and young people, addressing online harms, and promoting cultural and behavioural change across society.
2. Relentless pursuit of perpetrators
The Government commits to improving how perpetrators are identified, managed and held to account. This includes strengthening policing responses, improving criminal justice outcomes, embedding domestic abuse expertise within emergency and justice services, and learning from past failures, including Domestic Homicide Reviews.
3. Support for victims and survivors
The strategy emphasises the importance of accessible, trauma-informed, specialist support for victims and survivors. It recognises that recovery is not linear and that individuals need different types of support at different times, including help with safety, housing, health, justice and long-term recovery.
Children and young people
Children who experience domestic abuse are recognised as victims in their own right, not just witnesses. The strategy highlights the long-term harm domestic abuse can cause to children and the importance of early, specialist intervention to break intergenerational cycles of abuse.
Recognising inequality and barriers
The strategy explicitly acknowledges that experiences of abuse, and access to safety and justice, are shaped by factors such as race, disability, age, immigration status and poverty. It recognises that some women face additional barriers to support and that responses must be inclusive, trauma-informed and culturally competent.
Learning from deaths and system failures
A significant emphasis is placed on learning from domestic homicides and serious harm. The strategy highlights repeated themes of missed opportunities, lack of coordination and failures to act on known risk and commits to strengthening accountability and system learning to prevent further loss of life.
A whole-of-society approach
While recognising the essential role of specialist services, the strategy stresses that ending violence against women and girls cannot be achieved by one sector alone. Government, public services, employers, communities, online platforms and individuals all have a role to play in creating lasting change.
Why this matters locally in Coventry
Violence against women and girls is not an abstract national issue, it is something we see and respond to every day in Coventry. In the last year alone, Coventry Haven Women’s Aid supported over 4,700 women, children and young people, reflecting the ongoing scale and complexity of domestic abuse locally.
Women and families in Coventry often face intersecting challenges alongside abuse, including housing insecurity, financial hardship, mental health needs, and barriers linked to immigration status or disability. Demand for specialist domestic abuse support remains high, and the impact on safety, wellbeing and long-term recovery can be profound.
This national strategy matters locally because it recognises the importance of early intervention, specialist support, partnership working and learning from harm, all of which are central to Coventry’s response to domestic abuse. It reinforces the need for coordinated action across housing, health, policing, education and community services, and highlights the vital role of specialist organisations in supporting women and children to rebuild their lives safely.
As the strategy is implemented over the next decade, it provides an important framework for translating national ambition into local action, with the shared goal of ensuring women and children in Coventry can live free from violence and abuse.
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