Wiltshire Police welcomed Her Majesty The Queen when she came to hear about work to tackle violence against women and girls.
Last year, a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) was established comprising of members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations and business leaders.
Following the positive connections and conversations, the group also agreed to be part of Wiltshire Police's Independent Advisory Group, acting as a critical friend to the police, providing insight to improve services to victims and communities.
The chair of both groups is Lady Lansdowne, who coordinated the visit of Her Majesty to hear about the work being done in Wiltshire. This included a private meeting with Carole and Matthew Gould, the parents of Ellie Gould, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Calne in 2019, and who have been campaigning for tougher domestic abuse laws.
Chief Constable Catherine Roper said: "It was a huge honour to present to Her Majesty The Queen the progress being made by Wiltshire Police to tackle violence against women and girls.
"That progress has only been possible through the improved trust and confidence from victims, their families, community members, and partner agencies in the policing service we are offering, and in our commitment to robustly tackling this heinous criminality."
Wiltshire Police presented to Her Majesty details of how the force's performance is improving in this area, including:
- A rise in rape convictions from 50 percent in January 2024 to 82 percent in December 2024
- An increase in reported stalking offences by 46 percent in the last year following increased staff training
- Arrest rate increases for both stalking and domestic abuse. The stalking arrest rate has risen 50.4 percent - an increase of 5.3 percent on the previous year - while the domestic abuse arrest rate has risen to 49.1 percent, an increase of 2.6 percent compared with 2023
Temporary Det Supt Lucy Thorne said: "I'm thrilled that we could welcome Her Majesty to hear about the hard work that Wiltshire Police have been carrying out to improve our service to victims and communities.
"We know that continuous focus and improvement is needed to strengthen our response to VAWG, and the Force has been working closely with some fantastic people who are dedicated to ending violence against women and girls. It has been an honour to share this moment with them to be able to present to Her Majesty, who has consistently shown her own absolute commitment to eradicating VAWG, the considerable efforts being made across Wiltshire."
Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, Chair of Refuge, said, "Achieving much-needed system-wide improvements to the response to domestic abuse and violence against women and girls requires not just a national approach but a local one to ensure real and genuine progress that directly impacts on victims and our communities.
"I am delighted to be part of the Wiltshire EVAWG program, and the support of Her Majesty The Queen means a huge amount. This will enable us to amplify our work and get more and more of the wider community involved."
Other people and organisations who attended the event were the Lord Lieutenant Dame Sarah Troughton, the High Sheriff Dr. Olivia Chapple, Sarah Gibson MP for Chippenham, Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, Society without Abuse, Wiltshire Justice Board, Family Court Swindon, Swindon Family Court, Wansbroughs Solicitors, Wiltshire Community Foundation, businessman James Phipps, Salisbury Women’s Refuge, and Simon Cowley from White Horse Federation Multi Academy Trust.
Her Majesty's visit came only weeks after an official visit to Swindon, during which she called at Prospect Hospice and Great Western Hospital.
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