South Yorkshire Police 'absolutely committed' to preventing violence against women and girls

The force is in the process of recruiting a violence against women and girls independent advisory group (IAG), which will consist of people who have ‘lived experience’ of violence against women and girls, or of working in organisations that support women and girls who have experienced this type of violence.

A report to South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings states that is is ‘imperative’ that the group’s membership ‘reflects the diverse communities across South Yorkshire’.

“In order to facilitate communication with some of the more marginalised communities across South Yorkshire, the VAWG lead is working with hate crime coordinators, third sector organisations, as well as the four local authorities,” states the report.

Tim Forber, Deputy Chief Constable, told a meeting of the PCC’s public accountability board meeting today (February 7) that South Yorkshire Police ‘are absolutely determined that we will play our part in making sure that we provide the most effective response to both pursuing people who commit violence against women and girls but also make sure that we prevent it in all its forms whenever we whenever we can do’.

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He said: “To this end, we’ve appointed Natalie Shaw, who’s a very experienced former police officer, to the force to lead this piece of work.

“It’s about making sure that women and girls have trust and confidence in the police to know that we’re taking this seriously.

“That’s about dealing with the culture of the organisation, it’s about tackling misogyny in all its forms, and absolutely emphasising that this is at the forefront of our recent agenda.”

Natalie Shaw, a former a former SYP Chief Superintendent, returned to the force in a staff role last year, to lead its response to violence against women and girls.