Response to the National Audit Office’s Findings on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls

The National Audit Office’s (NAO) latest report provides a stark reminder that while some progress has been made in recent years, the Government’s approach to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) has been falling short.  

Big missions are words on a page unless backed bv serious thinking, serious investment and serious ownership from every Government department. Ending VAWG is a whole society issue. 

SafeLives has long called for a bold, strategic whole system response that prioritises prevention, addresses risk, and ensures all survivors—both adults and children—get the support they need to become safe and recover – and which delivers real accountability at every level. 

This Government has committed to halving VAWG in the next decade, and we fully support this ambition. However, as the NAO’s findings show, this will not be achieved without urgent improvements in leadership, funding, and data-driven decision-making. We want to encourage other key Government departments who bear the cash costs of a crisis response to invest more in prevention – particularly Health and Education – and match the explicit commitment of Ministers in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice. 

Lack of co-ordination across departments and services, as well as inconsistent local provision, means too many survivors are still being let down.

Data gaps continue to undermine efforts to tackle domestic abuse. Without accurate, timely data, policymakers cannot assess the true scale of harm or whether interventions are making a real difference. The NAO’s findings reinforce this concern, and we urge the Government to act swiftly to improve the collection and use of data across all relevant sectors. 

We know that domestic abuse does not exist in a vacuum—it affects whole families and communities. That is why SafeLives continues to advocate for a Whole Picture, Whole Family approach, ensuring that children are recognised as survivors in their own right and that services intervene early to stop harm before it escalates. The NAO report makes clear that the current fragmented approach is not working, and a shift towards properly co-ordinated, wraparound support is long overdue. 

We are calling on the Government to: 

• Embed a Whole Picture, Whole Family approach that provides tailored support to all survivors, including children, and ensures perpetrators are held to account. 

• Ensure a joined-up, whole-system response so that every agency involved in supporting survivors—whether in health, justice, housing, education or social care—works together effectively. 

• Transform the workforce response to domestic abuse through consistent, high-quality training for police, social workers, the courts, and NHS staff to ensure they identify risk, take action, and prevent further harm. 

• Guarantee sustainable funding for specialist domestic abuse and VAWG services so that no survivor is turned away. 
• Improve data collection and use to ensure responses are based on clear evidence of what works. 

SafeLives remains committed to working with government and partners across the sector to ensure survivors’ voices are at the heart of policy and practice. The ambition to halve VAWG is achievable, but only if there is sustained political will, proper investment, and a commitment to delivering systemic change. Survivors cannot afford to wait.