Violence against women and girls limits women’s opportunities and restricts their freedom in public spaces, as well as at home. Domestic violence is reported every 15 minutes in Merseyside, and across all our communities women are suffering in silence.

BAME women, disabled women, and women with uncertain immigration status are more likely to experience male violence and are also exposed to different forms of it. However, there is no city region wide strategy to end all forms of violence against women and girls in the Liverpool City Region, and devolution and competitive tendering have weakened specialist services to victims and survivors.

WE will:

Develop and implement a city region strategy to end all forms of violence against women and girls, working with women’s organisations and putting prevention, protection, provision and justice at the heart of all our policies.

Tackle the funding crisis for specialist services and ensure no woman is ever turned away from life-saving services.

Ensure all local decision-makers receive adequate training about the gendered nature of violence against women and girls so that they understand the importance of specialist services that are for, and led by, women, including disabled women and BAME women.

Provide the foundation for specialist sex and relationships classes in all schools across the Liverpool City Region.  

Work with the region’s child safeguarding boards, OFSTED, and NHS England to encourage a whole-school approach to tackling violence against girls, ensuring that staff are trained to recognise and respond to signs of violence.

Work with the police so that all officers understand the role of modern technology in violence against women and girls and the nature and consequences of violence and abuse, including why women may choose not to report it or to speak up.  

Prioritise better enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Notices/Orders (DVPOs), so that perpetrators are actively removed from their homes, rather than those they have abused being forced to leave.

Work in partnership with specialist BAME women’s services to ensure that FGM, forced marriage and so-called honour-based violence never happen in the Liverpool City Region.