More than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have failed to implement basic policies to investigate sexual crimes, a report has found, four years after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
Urgent action is now needed to prevent further violent sexual attacks on women and girls, including those targeting predatory men, the latest stage of an investigation has found.
Its president, Lady Elish Angiolini KC, said there was a disparity between the way forces tackled violence against women compared to other high-priority crimes, where funding and prevention were the norm.
Home Minister Shabana Mahmood said the government would carefully consider the recommendations.
Ms Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving police officer Wayne Couzens while walking home in south London in March 2021.
Couzens, who is now serving a life sentence in prison, had been a police officer for almost 20 years and had indecently exposed himself on two occasions in the months before the attack.
Two years ago, the government highlighted the need for police forces to coordinate their response and resources to tackle violence against women and girls in the same way they do other crimes that are considered national threats.
But the Angiolini Inquiry said that until this is done, tackling violence against women and girls will not be a credible national priority.
In the first part of her report, published in February last year, Lady Elish had recommended that by September 2024, police forces should ensure they have a specialist policy in place for the investigation of all sexual offences, including “non-contact” offenses such as indecent exposure.
The inquiry was told the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) had developed guidance to support forces with this, but as of September this year, 26% of police forces had not implemented the recommendation.
The NPCC said most of those forces were still reviewing existing policies to determine whether they are sufficient or consulting on new ones, the report said.
The report also noted concerns about gaps in national data, including the number of women who report being victims of rape and other sexually motivated crimes in public spaces.
Lady Elish warned that without these figures being collected and recorded consistently across forces, patterns of offending cannot be detected.
New recommendations from the second part of the Angiolini Inquiry include encouraging more people to take action when they see bad behaviour, with the introduction of a broader Good Samaritan law, as well as a significant increase in the collection and use of data on sexual crimes against women in public spaces.
Other recommendations include improving information and programs to create a culture of positive masculinity for men and boys and consistent, targeted public messaging on how to report crimes, such as indecent exposure.
There should also be greater use of police officers to assist architects and planners in designing safe public spaces, the report said.
Everard’s family said in a statement that they hoped the latest findings of the investigation would have “far-reaching consequences.”
“It shows how much work remains to be done to prevent sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces and against all those at risk,” the statement said.
“Sarah is always in our thoughts and we feel the investigation continues to honor her memory. We recognize the urgent need for positive change.”
Farah Naz, the aunt of Zara Aleena, who was sexually assaulted and murdered after a night out in east London by a prolific criminal in 2022, says she hopes the Good Samaritan law she has championed will be taken seriously and moved forward urgently.
She said: “My niece was walking home. That’s all she was doing. This report not only examines specific failings surrounding Sarah and Zara but also addresses the broader structures, cultural patterns and operational weaknesses that put women and girls at risk in public space.”
The Home Secretary said her thoughts were with Sarah Everard’s family and all those who loved her.
“I will do everything I can to ensure that women and girls can live free from fear and harm, something Sarah was so cruelly denied,” she said.
She said the government plans to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade and will soon release its strategy on violence against women and girls.
