KR HR & TRAINING NEWS ARTICLES

Turning Awareness into Action: Reflections from the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Summit.

Kathryn, Benjamin and Amandine were proud to represent the KR HR team at the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Summit in Marlborough on 23 October 2026, in the presence of HM The Queen.

We came away with a mix of emotions.

On the one hand, the statistics are daunting. Benjamin noted some key figures that were shared during the opening speeches given by Jess Phillips MP and domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs:

• 7m people were subjected to domestic abuse in the past year (up 0.9m on the previous year) according to the recently released ONS figures
• 1/5 of all reported crimes are VAWG offences
• 65% of VAWG offences are domestic abuse related crimes
• Young people are appearing more frequently as both victims and suspects. 50% of child sexual abuse offences involve offenders aged 10-17.

Violence Against Women and Girls remains a national emergency, and in view of the above figures, the government’s target to halve such crimes in 10 years is certainly ambitious, and during the expert panel Q&A questions were asked about whether this was achievable. No firm answer was given.

It was highlighted throughout the day how victims of VAWG face many challenges: inconsistent and underfunded support, a justice system that protects the perpetrator above the victim, judgmental attitudes from both professionals and people in their communities. For no other crime type is there a greater burden or scrutiny placed on the victim. Little wonder, then, that so many crimes go unreported – and so many perpetrators are free to continue their abuse. This must change.

On the other hand, the very fact that over 400 people had come together demanding change created a positive momentum. Connections have been made and important conversations started.

As a 16-year-old student, our Admin Assistant Benjamin highlighted the sessions which stood out to him:

• Lee Chambers from Male Allies UK and the prevention work he does around allyship, talking to people at an early stage can stop them from doing something harmful
• Laura Richards, Crime Analyst and former New Scotland Yard’s impressive work on identifying perpetrators
• Zara McDermott’s documentaries on image-based abuse and how she has used her personal experience to raise awareness

Over lunch, Kathryn asked Benjamin what had shocked him the most so far, after a morning of alarming statistics and distressing films about young girls who had died by suicide after being subjected to image based abuse. His response “none of it shocked me” sounded shocking at first. But Benjamin clarified that this was because he had covered the topics at school, so the content of the talks did not surprise him, even though it is a horrific issue.

Benjamin was certainly in the minority as a male delegate – in a quick scan of the audience, we counted 28 men among an audience of 400. Violence against women and girls cannot be solved without men’s active involvement.

Reflecting on male allyship, he said “I’d like to think I wouldn’t ever cause anyone harm, but it has made me think more carefully about how I act in future, and how to step in.”

This raises the importance of relationship and sex education (RSE) for young people – the demographic where there is the biggest increase in VAWG offences. Currently, there is no requirement for schools or colleges to provide RSE after the age of 16. But this is a crucial time when young people are starting relationships and potentially heading off to university, which brings more challenges (as highlighted by a student who stood up and talked about “spiking” with needles which is so common that every weekend one of her friends is in hospital after falling victim to this). Good to see campaigners Carole Gould and Julie Devey in the audience and the support they are receiving on their proposal to make RSE mandatory in post-16 education.

Kathryn says “What has stayed with me the most is the words of Her Majesty the Queen who described survivors of domestic abuse as the real heroes and praised the bravery of their sharing stories of something so horrific in order to create change.”

The day certainly created momentum and inspiration. Now our challenge is to keep that momentum going long after the Summit ended.

One of the ways in which we are doing this is by working with the EVAWG Wiltshire coalition to deliver seminars for employers to help them understand their duties to prevent sexual harassment and how to support employees facing domestic abuse. The first seminar is on 16 November 3-5pm in Royal Wootton Bassett. Details here.

Domestic Abuse Awareness Month may have drawn to a close, but our voices are as loud as ever in striving for change.

Find media coverage, photographs and videos from the EVAWG summit here.