Joe Caluori

The #WeCops debate this week is hosted by Giles Herdale, Joe Caluori and Emma Jones on the important topic of online violence against women and girls (VAWG). It will run on X and LinkedIn on Wednesday 3rd July at 2100hrs BST. This is the last of our chats in this current format as we move to a new website and platform soon. Online VAWG, perpetrator behaviour and police interventions- A #WeCops chat with Giles Herdale (VAWG taskforce – National Police Chiefs’ Council), Joe Caluori (Director of Crime, Justice and Security at The National Centre for Social Research) and Emma Jones (Research Director, and VAWG lead, at The National Centre for Social Research) *Trigger warning: this blog raises themes of domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, sexual assault, and gender-themed abuse* Pre-read below: “Violence against women and girls (VAWG) has become an increasingly complex and pressing issue for many police forces within the UK. The expansion and diversification of technology has enabled ‘new’ online VAWG-related offences such as cyber-stalking, harassment, and revenge porn. However, as many academics and charities note, digitally enabled VAWG is not an isolated phenomenon, but a pattern of behaviour that can frequently translate to real-world crime. In fact, in a survey from Open University in 2023, 13% of women in England who experienced online violence reported that it progressed offline, causing significant emotional, psychological and even physical harm. With the ambition of encouraging more victim-survivors of gendered violence to come forward, to prosecute more perpetrators of VAWG-related offences, and increase the support for victim-survivors, the Government launched a Tackling VAWG strategy in 2021. Despite huge steps forward in terms of awareness and government commitment, evidence still shows that women are more likely to seek support from friends (29%) and family (16%), than escalate matters to the police (6%). Within the same survey, 57% of women in England thought that the police lacked the adequate resources needed to tackle online VAWG effectively. As a result of a lack of public confidence, and a growing occurrence of VAWG-related offences, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in 2023 outlined a VAWG strategic threat and risk assessment. This highlighted challenges that police forces face such as capability, capacity, and ability to assess the scale of reported online VAWG offences due to increasing data recording practices. To overcome these challenges, the NPCC called for an investment in local and national analytical capabilities, and more opportunities to use non-policing data and collaborate with technical specialists, community safety ambassadors, and police and crime commissioners. More recently, this fed into a joint National framework with the College of Policing for 2024-2027. Despite acknowledgement that a new approach is needed, the picture is still unclear when it comes to joining the dots between online behaviour and real-world perpetrators of crime. As such, NatCen and Open University colleagues are keen to spark discussion around the questions asked in this #WeCops discussion.” To note: Responses facilitated from this discussion may be used to support the scoping for NatCen and the Open University’s grant application for further research on the topic. No identifiable information of individuals involved in the discussion will be included in the scoping. If you’re interested in hearing more about the upcoming grant proposal, or wider VAWG work at The National Centre for Social Research, please contact: [email protected] We look forward to a lively interesting conversation and are grateful everyone that takes part. See you there - Weds 3rd July at 9pm. #WeCops Support contacts: The organisations listed below provide support on various issues related to VAWG. If this discussion has raised any questions or concerns, or you would like to speak to somebody confidentially, you can search: Find Help | End Violence Against Women - endviolenceagainstwomen.org.… I need help - information and support on domestic abuse (womensaid.org.uk) womensaid.org.uk/information… Refuge, the largest UK domestic abuse organisation for women - refuge.org.uk/ Home: Welsh Women's Aid (welshwomensaid.org.uk)

Question 1: What online behaviour should we look for that suggests someone is at risk of perpetrating real-world crime? Please add #WeCops to all your replies so they are visible to all across the different platforms.

Could social media feeds affect how you vote? I’ve been investigating with BBC’s Undercover Voters, holding social media companies to account and resulting in real impact. Misinfo pushed to voters, doctored AI clips & false comments & bot accusations. bbc.com/news/videos/cjrrgkpy…