Priorities and focus areas for the national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection (NCVPP).
Violence against women and girls remains widespread. In the past year:
- 2.2 million people experienced domestic abuse
- 1.1 million people experienced sexual assault
- 1.5 million people experienced stalking
The government has committed to halving violence against women and girls within a decade. The national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection (NCVPP) supports police forces to deliver this ambition.
Our priorities
Supporting chief constables
We support chief constables to develop an effective whole force response.
This type of response means ensuring public protection and tackling violence against women and girls are priorities across all teams and departments, not just specialist units.
Every officer and member of staff understands their role in safeguarding vulnerable people and pursuing perpetrators, from first contact through to prosecution.
Training and development
We work with other National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) portfolios to equip, train and develop police officers and staff. This includes neighbourhood teams and specialist investigators.
As part of the College of Policing, we set national standards that are streamlined and practical to help forces succeed.
Sharing what works
We work with forces, partners and specialists in the sector to identify, share and scale up effective approaches.
We can only succeed as part of a whole system response. This means police, health services, local authorities, courts and support organisations working together to protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.
No single agency can tackle violence against women and girls or public protection alone.
Putting victims first
We keep the voice of victims and survivors at the heart of what we do.
Using research and insight
We have a dedicated research and data team that gathers and analyses evidence to improve how policing responds to violence against women and girls and public protection offences.
This insight shapes our guidance, training and standards, and helps forces understand what is working and where to focus their efforts.
We offer peer review and support, giving forces the opportunity to learn from each other, identify good practice and address gaps, helping to make real, lasting improvements on the ground.
Our current programmes
We deliver four national programmes:
- vulnerability knowledge and practice programme
- Operation Soteria
- violence against women and girls taskforce
- professionalising public protection
We are using the combined expertise from these programmes to set our longer-term priorities.
Our focus areas
We are working with forces to make important changes across priority areas, including:
- charging
- domestic abuse protection orders
- risk assessments
- identifying and tackling the most dangerous perpetrators
- rape and serious sexual offences