Merseyside Police’s work to tackle Violence against Women and Girls in spotlight as part of 16 days of action
09.12.25
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Merseyside
Merseyside Police’s work to tackle Violence against Women and Girls will be in the spotlight at the Police and Crime Commissioner’s public Scrutiny Meeting today (Tuesday 9th December), being held as part of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence.
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Emily Spurrell will question the Chief Constable, Rob Carden, on how the police are tackling crimes such as domestic abuse, rape, stalking and harassment, and improving outcomes for victims.
The meeting will give the Chief Constable and his senior team the opportunity to update the PCC and the public on the police’s response to these crimes and the work being undertaken to encourage reporting and ensure those who come forward get the right response.
This year, the PCC launched the first Femicide Oversight Group to examine why women continue to lose their lives to male violence in our region – and this meeting will give her the opportunity to challenge the Chief Constable about what more will be done to prevent future deaths. This will include scrutinising the use of protective orders and disclosure schemes to prevent harm and safeguard victims.
With more than 36,000 domestic abuse offences recorded between April 2024 and September 2025 and solved rates for all offences, particularly rape and sexual offences remaining low, the PCC will ask the Chief Constable to set out the force’s approach to preventing offences and improving the speed and quality of the police response.
As always, the three-hour meeting, which is livestreamed and recorded to enable the public to watch, will also include questions submitted by people from across Merseyside and from two of the PCC’s independent scrutiny members who are appointed to represent the region’s communities.
Watch the meeting live at 12.30pm at: PCC Scrutiny Meeting – Tuesday 9 December 2025, 12:30pm – Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Webcasting
Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “Violence Against Women and Girls continues to be one of the most urgent challenges facing policing and Merseyside continues to see worryingly high levels of gender-based violence.
“These crimes devastate lives and destroy families, and the public rightly expects a robust response.
“Today’s meeting is about transparency and accountability – asking tough questions to ensure Merseyside Police is doing everything possible to prevent harm, bring offenders to justice, and support victims.
“It gives the public the chance to hear directly from the Chief Constable about the work being undertaken by Merseyside Police to drive improvements in response to VAWG and ensure it is being treated as an emergency.
“As always, I will also be dedicating some time to put questions submitted by members of the public, so I would encourage people to watch live from 12.30pm at PCC Scrutiny Meeting – Tuesday 9 December 2025, 12:30pm – Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Webcasting or view the recording on my website afterwards.”
Today’s meeting comes as the PCC marks three years since the release of her region-wide partnership plan to tackle VAWG and the launch of the latest phase of the partnership Taking Action campaign with Merseyside Police focused on tackling rape and sexual offences.
Myth vs Fact aims to rip apart the lies used to shield perpetrators and silence victims. Launched on 25th November to mark Elimination of VAWG Day on 25th November, it replaces those harmful lies with the truth to empower survivors and challenge attitudes.
Building on this launch, yesterday the PCC and Merseyside Police released a powerful new spoken word piece ‘Man to Man’ to challenge street harassment and harmful behaviours by speaking directly to men. Written and produced by local poet Joseph Roberts, it seeks to spark honest conversations, encourage accountability, and inspire cultural change to make Merseyside safer for women and girls.
