We call on the Government to replace the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy with Violence Against People (VAP) strategy to ensure Government policy, funding and support protect all victims of violence, abuse and coercive control equally, regardless of sex, based on evidence and need.

In our view, the VAWG strategy treats violence as a sex-based issue rather than a behaviour based one. We think this overlooks male victims and risks unequal treatment. We therefore call on the Government to replace it with VAP (Violence Against People) so all victims receive equal recognition, protection and support regardless of sex. Policy should be evidence-led, based on individual circumstances, and should not presume victimhood before the facts are established.