22 December 2025

MEDIA STATEMENT

Response to the government’s VAWG strategy

Muslim Women’s Network UK welcome the publication of the government’s long-awaited Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. It is encouraging to see a clear commitment to addressing the root causes of violence, including misogyny, harmful gender norms, dangerous attitudes, and escalating behaviours—both online and offline—that lead men and boys to become perpetrators. A meaningful focus on prevention and early intervention is essential if we are to reduce violence in the long term.

We urge the government to ensure that their planned national awareness-raising and behaviour-change campaigns are inclusive and culturally informed, with tailored approaches for different communities. Generic messaging risks missing those most at risk.

MWNUK CEO Baroness Shaista Gohir said: “To date there has been a much greater attention given by successive governments to cultural forms of abuse such as honour-based abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation while domestic abuse in minority ethnic communities has been overlooked. The government has finally acknowledged that ethnic minority women are disproportionately over represented in domestic homicide rates as they confirm in the strategy that between the years ending March 2022 and March 2025, women from the Black/Black British ethnic group were 2.5 times more likely to be victims of domestic homicide than those from the White ethnic group.”

Muslim Women’s Network UK has repeatedly raised these disparities with Ministers, especially regarding Black women. It is vital that the government now launches an inquiry to better understand the contributing factors to the higher domestic homicide rates so they can be addressed.

The longstanding underfunding of specialist ‘by and for’ services remains a critical concern. While we welcome the government’s commitment to commissioning services that includes delivery by organisations with a ‘deep understanding of the communities they serve such as specialist ‘by and for’ organisations rooted in lived experience’—we expect this pledge to translate into equitable, long-term funding. No specialist organisation should be left behind given the scale of the problem.

Anyone experience any form of violence or abuse can contact the Muslim Women’s Network Helpline on 0800 999 5786 or via info@mwnhelpline.co.uk

Additional Information

1. For comments get in touch via – contact@mwnuk.co.uk / 0121 236 9000

2. Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) is a registered charity (no.1155092) and further information can be found on https://www.mwnuk.co.uk