Recognise different types of violence; disrupt perpetrators using a victim-centred approach

• Consider all types of violence against women and girls, recognising hidden harms and types of abuse that are often missed (honour-based abuse, FGM).
• Introduce and develop specialist units and training programmes for certain types of VAWG (e.g. stalking/DV) to ensure that a consistent, victim-centred and high quality service is provided.
• Relentlessly pursuing perpetrators may not be a suitable approach for all types of crime. Therefore, a victim-centred approach must be adopted in our pursuit of perpetrators, ensuring that the safety of victims is prioritised.
• Improve partnership working across all agencies (Govt., health, education, local authorities) to recognise hidden harms and ensure that crimes, such as honour-based abuse, are not lost across multi-agency systems.

This idea is from a stakeholder seminar hosted recently by Police Scotland and key partners. It relates to suggested Outcome 2 - Preventing harm