Our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy

Recognising the need for a dual approach to domestic abuse, and Violence Against Women and Girls, we endeavour to create a space where perpetrators are held accountable for their wrongdoing, encouraged to recognise their behaviour(s) as abusive, and provided with opportunities to seek out lasting change.

Following our consultation, Mayor and Cabinet approved our Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2021-2026; our robust five year plan contains the learning, and sets out our approach to eradicating abuse within our communities.

The strategy has been shaped through interviews, workshops and consultations with domestic abuse survivors living in Lewisham, local professionals, and residents. This has led us to create five key priorities to combat Violence Against Women and Girls VAWG, and sees us build upon our already strong relationships across the Borough to ensure that our response to this issue includes expertise captured from many different perspectives:

Prevent: Preventing violence and abuse through early intervention and education.

Protect: Providing support that keeps individuals and their families safe from harm.

Recover: Providing longer-term support to enable recovery following abuse.

Pursue: Holding perpetrators to account whilst providing opportunity for change and support.

Partnership: Working in partnership across agencies and with the community, to ensure our response to abuse is integrated, innovative and inclusive.

For us, everything begins and ends with our people, we recognise the impact of domestic abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls upon communities, including the children that experience these crimes through their own lived experience(s).

Why We Use The Term Violence Against Women and Girls:

Though we recognise that those of other genders can and do experience crime, in Lewisham, we use the term Violence Against Women and Girls, in recognition of these being gendered crimes.

What Is Violence Against Women and Girls?

In Lewisham, we define Violence Against Women and Girls as any act that subjects, or places another in fear of violence, any act of violence, aggression and or control, that seeks to take away the autonomy of another. The term Violence Against Women and Girls reflects the fact that these are, mostly, gendered crimes that see higher instances of female victims, and male perpetrators.