A new phase of the Angiolini Inquiry, launched in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, has delivered a damning indictment of police preparedness, revealing that around 26% of police forces in England and Wales are still missing basic policies for investigating sexual offences, including non-contact crimes like indecent exposure. The report condemns a “paralysis” in implementing promised reforms, causing renewed outrage and scrutiny of police culture and women’s safety measures.
A Failure to Implement Basic Safeguards
Despite years of public and political promises following the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, the inquiry’s latest findings indicate a “troubling lack of momentum” in translating those pledges into systemic action.
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Missing Policies: The report found that a quarter of forces lack specialist policies for investigating sexual offenses. This includes crimes like indecent exposure, which the inquiry chair, Lady Elish Angiolini KC, noted are often a precursor to more serious behaviour.
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Data Gaps: A “critical failure” was identified in the consistent collection of data. Lady Angiolini stressed that no one can confidently state how many women are victims of sexually motivated crimes, such as rape or sexual assault, in public spaces each year. This lack of data fundamentally hinders the ability to spot patterns of offending and effectively allocate prevention resources.
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Focus on Predators: The report heavily criticizes the continued underfunding and under-prioritisation of prevention work focused on predatory men. It argues that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is not being treated with the same severity and coordinated effort as other national threats, like counter-terrorism.
Eroding Public Trust and Safety
The continued exposure of these deep-seated failures further erodes public trust in policing, particularly among women who frequently report feeling unsafe walking on Britain’s streets.
The inquiry’s findings reinforce the need for a cultural overhaul within policing, rather than just isolated policy changes. Recommendations from the first part of the inquiry—such as a ban on allowing individuals cautioned or convicted of sexual offenses from joining the police—have not yet been fully met.
Key recommendations from the latest report aim to shift the focus from advising women on safety to targeting perpetrators:
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Consistent Data Collection: National and local police forces must consistently collect and share data on sexually motivated crimes to better understand and map offenders’ behaviour.
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Targeted Interventions: There is an urgent need to use intelligence (potentially with the help of AI) to identify and activity manage predatory men before they offend.
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Good Samaritan Law: The report supports the call for a wider Good Samaritan law, encouraging witnesses to act when they see someone in danger.
The Home Secretary has responded, calling the lack of safety for women “utterly unacceptable” and promising to “carefully consider” the inquiry’s recommendations. However, victims’ families and advocates stress that urgent action, not just words, is required to prevent further tragedies and truly designate VAWG as a national priority.
