Dear John,

We welcome the publication of the UK Government’s new violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy, Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls.

The performance framework used to monitor progress on the strategy comprises a headline metric, several supporting headline metrics and a range of sub-metrics. Because VAWG is a complex topic and covers a range of crime types, it is sensible to use a broad set of metrics.

The headline metric is a combined measure of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking, calculated using data from the self-completion module of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first estimate of this combined measure in July 2025. The ONS publication provides a clear explanation of the method used to calculate the metric and outlines its limitations.

However, in our view, the strategy does not contain sufficient details about the combined measure or the supporting headline metrics and sub-metrics. It does not explain why certain forms of violence are excluded from the combined measure. In particular, it is unclear why sexual harassment is excluded, given that it is the most prevalent form of VAWG and is also captured through the CSEW self-completion module. Additionally, the data sources for the supporting headline metrics and sub-metrics are not clear.

We think it would be helpful if the Home Office published a more detailed description of each metric, including why it was selected, the data source, and the status of the metric or data source (whether it is an official statistic or not). This would support public understanding and scrutiny of the metrics.

The strategy highlights data quality issues and states that the Home Office will work with data partners, including police forces, to improve the quality of data available. However, the nature of these data quality issues and planned improvements are not explained. It would therefore be helpful if any supporting information also discussed the strengths and limitations, in relation to data quality, of each data source, and signposts readers to existing information about data quality.

Your analytical team told us that it recognises that some metrics are nuanced and that this nuance requires space to explain fully. We understand that developments and trends in the measures will be reported on as part of annual progress reports. To enhance transparency about the metrics, we encourage you to publish additional supporting information sooner.

I am copying this letter to Tom Bucke, Deputy Director, Drugs, Exploitation and Abuse Analysis; Simon Palmer, Director, Home Office Analysis & Insight; Gisela Carr, Deputy Director, Interpersonal Abuse Unit; Rachel Lloyd, Director, Violence Against Women and Girls; Richard Clarke, Director General, Public Safety Group.

Yours sincerely,

Ed Humpherson
Director General for OSR