Greenwich to Focus on Male Accountability in VAWG Strategy

Greenwich Council is set to prioritise male accountability in its new strategy to combat violence against women and girls (VAWG). The move aims to shift the burden of safety from women to men, addressing the root causes of violence and promoting cultural change.

The decision was highlighted during a meeting of the Greenwich Health and Wellbeing Board on Monday, 30 June 2025, where members received an overview of the borough's response to domestic abuse and VAWG. The new strategy, titled Working Together to End Male Violence Against Women and Girls, marks a significant repositioning of the council's approach. The report pack for the meeting outlines the eight key objectives of the strategy, which include a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness of interventions and strategies.

The report pack for the meeting stated:

The Working Together to End Male Violence Against Women and Girls strategy is about taking a principled, values-based approach. We are making a conscious decision to align our work with the reality that women and girls are disproportionately harmed by male violence. For too long, women and girls have been asked to carry the burden of safety. They are told to change their behaviour, to alter their routes home, to watch what they wear, to limit their freedoms. But women and girls do not cause male violence, men do. The responsibility must shift.

The strategy outlines eight key objectives:

1. Male Accountability and Behaviour Change: To hold men accountable for their actions and promote positive behaviour change through education and intervention programmes.
2. Allyship and Community Engagement: To encourage men and boys to actively participate as allies in ending male violence against women and girls.
3. Prevention and Education: To implement educational programmes in schools, workplaces, and communities to raise awareness about male violence, consent, and healthy relationships.
4. Supporting Victims and Survivors: To provide accessible, trauma-informed support services for women and girls affected by male violence, ensuring they feel safe and supported.
5. Legal and Policy Frameworks: To ensure robust enforcement of laws that protect women and girls from male violence.
6. Public Spaces Safety: To enhance safety measures in public spaces to protect women and girls from male violence and harassment.
7. Intersectionality and Inclusivity: To develop strategies that consider the intersectional experiences of women and girls, ensuring an inclusive approach that recognises diverse needs and vulnerabilities. To implement assessment tools that encourage practitioners to uphold intersectionality in their work. To provide comprehensive support services for all victims of violence, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility.
8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability: To establish a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness of interventions and strategies.

The council recognises the need to tackle the root causes of VAWG, including male entitlement, toxic masculinity, and ingrained misogyny. The strategy aims to foster a shift in societal attitudes, encouraging men to take responsibility for ending male violence. The council plans to regularly review and report on progress against strategic objectives to ensure accountability.

The report pack also noted some key findings from the 2021–22 Serious Violence Needs Assessment and current data:

• One in seven total notifiable offences reported to the police were flagged as domestic abuse.
• Domestic abuse was flagged in 18% of sexual offences.
• Stalking ranked as the fourth most prevalent offence type in both 2021 and 2022.
• In 2022, 38 cases of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation were recorded.

For the year 2024/25, there were 3,496 domestic offences reported to the police, a 13% decrease compared to the previous year. The Greenwich Domestic Violence and Abuse (GDVA) Helpline received 2,498 calls and 4,035 web-based enquiries. While reported domestic offences have decreased, the council is focusing on prevention, identification, response, and enforcement, including ensuring professionals have the skills to identify and support victims, commissioning specialist services and ensuring proactive enforcement.

The MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference), a fortnightly meeting to share information on high-risk cases, saw 767 referrals in 2024/25, with 345 being repeat referrals. 407 cases involved children, affecting a total of 837 children.

The council also highlighted the work of the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Group (DAPG), which complements the MARAC by focusing on perpetrators while IDVAs support victims. Early analysis in 2022 showed a promising impact on reducing repeat referrals to MARAC since the DAPG's establishment.

The council is developing an action plan for ensuring male psychological safety, aiming to support emotional wellbeing, prevent online radicalisation, and promote pro-social behaviours. This plan will align with the themes of the EMVAWG strategy.

The Health and Wellbeing Board's forward work plan includes discussions on emergency department attendances and equality, diversity, and inclusion at its September 2025 meeting, as outlined in the Health and Wellbeing Board Forward Work Plan.