Wiltshire Police told do better on violence against women

The force said it has pledged to make fundamental and enduring change in the way it deals with the cases

Police must do better in tackling violence against women and girls in Wiltshire, a domestic abuse charity says.

It comes after a survey by Wiltshire Police showed a third of women in the county who have been victims of crime have not reported it.

Claire Marshall, CEO of FearLess, said the results make for "harsh reading".

The force said the issue was "front-of-mind" and has already made improvements with its investigations.

The police survey, of almost 1,200 women, was held last year and revealed:

• 35% of women and girls who have been victims of crime did not report it to the police

• Of these, 48% said they did not report the crime as they felt they would not be taken seriously

• 33% said they would not report crimes in the future based on experience of reporting them previously

FearLess Wiltshire brings together services for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, and their families

Ms Marshall said the survey results were "quite shocking".

"That experience is born out by our clients," she said.

"They are telling us how they feel about the situation on a daily basis - so that is very familiar to us, although it is very interesting to see the survey in black and white and the scale of the problem."

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Recent high profile cases have created "fear and mistrust", Ms Marshall said.

"It is an awful lot to reach out in the first place and find someone you can trust," she said.

"They are looking for safety and they are looking to be believed - so it is really important that our potential clients trust us, trust the police and trust social care and the whole criminal justice system."

Det Supt Sarah Robbins said the force has made improvements in how it deals with violence against women

Det Supt Sarah Robbins, Wiltshire Police's lead on violence against women and girls, said it "really worried me when I saw those stats".

"I am really glad we did the survey, because we needed people to be honest with us, and they were," she said.

"I am a woman who lives in Wiltshire, I have a daughter - I want us, not just for the public of Wiltshire, but for my daughter and myself, to be better.

"What we know is that if someone has had a bad experience with the police, that removes that confidence from them potentially for the rest of their life.

"So I want to tell people, 'Please have confidence in us, please report to us. If you don't get a good service from us you need to tell us and we need to do better'."

'Dramatic improvement'

Since receiving the feedback, the force said it had made significant improvements.

These include:

• Bespoke training rolled out to more than 1,600 officers and staff

• Enhanced vulnerability training for call handlers to spot signs of abuse from the moment women and girls reach out

• All officers must have body-worn cameras switched on when attending potential domestic abuse incidents to ensure all evidence is captured immediately to support future prosecutions

• The force is increasing the number of officers and staff dedicated to overseeing investigations

It said that as a result of this work, it had seen a "dramatic improvement in outcomes for incidents of rape and serious sexual offences".

"Over a rolling 12 month period, we've had a 89.9% arrest rate for the highest risk cases," the force said.

Ms Marshall said she can see the changes but more needs to be done.

"We know they are getting better because we work very closely with Wiltshire Police," she said.

"The steps [the force] is taking is fantastic, but it is a drop in the ocean in comparison to the scale of the challenge. The way we handle it, the way we coordinate together, the communication, the training needs to be ten fold what it is now."