Collection and sharing of data at national and local levels

Immediately, the Home Office should lead work, coordinated by the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection, to significantly increase both the collection and use of data on sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces, in order to establish an informed understanding of these crimes and assist in building effective preventative measures. This work should:

a. Add requirements for police forces to consistently record and provide data on: (i) the nature of the relationship between the perpetrator and victim (i.e. whether they are strangers, or known to each other); and (ii) a description of the location of the offence(s) (by way of defined categories of public spaces or private premises), as part of their annual data returns. Consideration should be given to how this data can usefully inform the work of the Safer Streets mission to improve and better target prevention activity.

b. Review the capability and capacity of police analysts, working to increase the recruitment, retention and recognition of the central role these professionals play in helping to prevent sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.

c. Establish annual information collection, using existing surveys, to understand women's perceptions of safety and their experiences and the public's perception of sexually motivated crimes in public settings. Consideration should be given to how this data can usefully inform the work of the Safer Streets mission to improve and better target prevention activity.

d. Set clear guidelines that, where data is gathered by policing from female victims of sexually motivated crimes in public spaces, they should be offered the opportunity to share information regarding protected characteristics. This is to ensure that, where possible, an accurate picture of victimisation is provided, and the correct support is available. Guidelines should cover details of how to conduct this data collection in a way that is sensitive to the needs of victims.