The UK government has today published its long-awaited Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, aimed at halving VAWG within a decade. It includes various new measures that seek to prevent violence against women and girls in all forms.
Critically, the strategy recognises stalking as a vital issue that needs to be tackled within VAWG. It includes specific commitments to strengthen how the police manage and investigate cases by improving understanding and identification of stalking, and to ensure the implementation of recommendations from the 2022 stalking super-complaint. As part of this, an independent review of stalking legislation is already under way, led by Richard Wright KC, the prosecutor in Alice’s murder trial.
The government plans seek to address the root causes of VAWG through primary prevention measures. This is vital, which is why it has been the focus of the Alice Ruggles Trust’s activities since its inception.
Alice’s parents Clive and Sue said:
“We are delighted that tackling stalking and promoting healthy relationships has been recognised as an essential part of the government’s strategy to halve VAWG in a decade.
We are pleased to see a range of proposals and measures to improve the criminal justice response in stalking cases. This is something we have campaigned for ever since losing Alice nine years ago.
It has always been clear to us that the only way to make this sustainable is to focus on the longer term, and to address the root causes. We need to change the mindset of today’s young people. That is why the main focus of the Trust that we set up in Alice’s name is to work in schools aiming to tackle unwanted and unacceptable behaviours before they escalate. It is encouraging that the new strategy recognises the crucial importance of such work.
This strategy represents a huge step forward. It gives us real hope for a future in which victims are better protected and there are far fewer of them.
We look forward to government, criminal justice, and victim services working together with teachers and educators to bring about real and sustainable change.”
The VAWG strategy can be downloaded from the gov.uk website.
The CPS has also recently published its own VAWG strategy for 2025–2030.
While much stalking falls within VAWG, not all stalking victims are women and not all perpetrators are men. Also, around half of all stalking occurs in a non-domestic context. The Alice Ruggles Trust will continue to campaign, train and educate about coercive control and stalking whatever the context.
The new VAWG strategy promises to move us much closer towards ensuring that what happened to Alice does not happen to others.
What follows now is crucial. Words must be followed by action.
