All police forces in England and Wales will have dedicated rape and sexual offences teams by 2029, the government has said.
The plans are being unveiled as the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, prepares to outline a delayed strategy on violence against women and girls (VAWG) next week.
Mahmood is also expected to announce the introduction of domestic abuse protection orders in England and Wales after a regional pilot scheme.
The orders will be granted by judges in both civil and criminal proceedings, enabling them to impose sanctions on offenders, such as electronic tagging and exclusion zones. Those who breach the orders could be jailed for up to five years, the government said.
It also announced it would invest almost £2m in “crack police squads” made up of “covert online investigators” to target internet abusers.
“This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency,” Mahmood said. “For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That’s not good enough. We will halve it in a decade.
“Today we announce a range of measures to bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide.”
The government said that the plans for the new rape and sexual offences teams would be headed by “specialist investigators” trained to understand offender behaviour.
The plans are in part a response to Operation Soteria, a Home Office project commissioned under the Conservatives in 2021 in response to concerns about how reports of sexual violence were investigated and low charge rates. Early data from the project suggested half the rape investigation teams were not fully qualified.
Sources have indicated training will have a particular focus on “rape mythology” and “problematic cultural issues”, which lead to some victims being dismissed or blamed. They added that some officers would be trained as sexual violence “first responders” in an attempt to ensure initial contact with victims is handled appropriately.
The Guardian understands there will be no additional funding for these units, so forces will have to absorb the costs from existing budgets. The speed at which they are set up is also expected to vary between forces and will depend on the existing level of expertise in each area.
However, the teams are expected to be supported by the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, a £13m project unveiled this year to improve the response to this type of offending.
Domestic abuse protection orders were introduced under a pilot scheme in November last year, operating initially in Greater Manchester and parts of London before being extended to north Wales and Cleveland.
The orders are expected to target those who perpetrate all types of domestic abuse. The government said this would include “economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, stalking and ‘honour’-based abuse”. It added there would be no maximum time limits placed on the orders.
Halving gender-based violence in a decade was one of Labour’s key manifesto pledges but ministers have faced criticism for delays and an apparent lack of engagement with experts in the sector.
Karen Bradley, chair of the home affairs select committee, wrote to ministers this week to express concerns about how long it has taken to publish the strategy, originally expected in spring this year.
She said: “The delay is creating significant uncertainty across the VAWG sector, leaving stakeholders unclear about the guiding principles that should shape their work. Repeated delays in publication sends the message that tackling VAWG is not a government priority, despite the ambition to halve VAWG within the next decade.”
In her letter, Bradley added the committee understood there had been “poor engagement and transparency with VAWG stakeholders” throughout the development of the strategy.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
