Priti Patel’s strategy for violence against women is laughable

In a year which saw the death of Sarah Everard, the home secretary has hailed “good progress” in tackling violence against women.

Priti Patel has launched her latest strategy to combat this abuse – and lends a great deal of the release to patting Tory peers on the back for policies passed as far back as 2013. 

Meanwhile, latest figures for Norfolk reveal that nearly two reports of rape a day were made to police in 2020 – an increase of 85pc within four years – while the number of charges fell to 2pc by comparison.  

Whatever the government is congratulating itself on, it’s blatantly not enough to keep up.  

Patel goes on to write that, “amazingly”, having reopened a call for evidence following the deaths of Sarah Everard, Julia James, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and countless more, 180,000 people reported abuse to the government.  

I wonder why she is so “amazed” by this response and what she expected that figure to be. A few hundred? A few thousand? 

If the Home Office is so taken aback by the data, it shows the frightening levels of their ignorance.   

The minister, in her final, pathetic flourish, states that the government’s mission “must be nothing less than to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls”.  

I had to read it twice. 

The aim of this “ground-breaking” strategy is only to “reduce” (in the long-term, she clarifies, I suppose they don’t want to promise too much) these crimes against half of the population?  

It’s no wonder women across our city, county and country don’t feel safe on the streets or in their own beds – if this is the assurance we’re offered from the highest office.

By someone who claims to get it.  

So I say her policies are laughable because, as the saying goes, if you don’t laugh you’ll cry.