UK Police Under Fire: Inquiry Calls for Urgent Action to Stop Sex Crimes Against Women

Police forces across the United Kingdom have been sharply criticised for failing to stem the tide of sexual offences targeting women and girls, in a damning new report that demands urgent, systemic reforms. The findings, released Tuesday by the inquiry into policing failures, conclude that current efforts are hampered by a “troubling lack of momentum and ambition,” insufficient funding and inadequate long-term strategy.

At the centre of the scrutiny is the case of a prior police officer, convicted for the abduction, rape and murder of a young woman — a crime that exposed institutional blind spots and remains emblematic of broader systemic failure.

A Shocking Reminder: The Case That Shook Britain

In 2021, former officer Wayne Couzens was jailed for life after he abducted a woman on a London street, raped and murdered her. The woman was walking home alone when Couzens — wielding his police credentials — used them to lure her. The crime sent shockwaves across Britain, sparking widespread public outrage and protests over violence against women and deep mistrust toward parts of the police force.

More disturbing still: the report reveals that Couzens’ history included multiple instances of indecent exposure — conduct that should have triggered investigation and intervention, but was instead dismissed or overlooked. These missed signals, the inquiry argues, represent lost opportunities to prevent what eventually became a tragic and avoidable murder.

That failure is not isolated, the report warns. It is part of a much larger pattern of neglect: a policing culture that has repeatedly undervalued or under-resourced prevention of sexual offences, allowed predators to slip through the net, and failed to treat violence against women with the gravity it deserves.

A Wake-Up Call: The Inquiry’s Findings

The report — led by Elish Angiolini, a senior legal figure entrusted with evaluating the systemic failures around the Couzens case — lays bare the scale of the problem and calls for a wholesale rethinking of how police approach sex crimes. According to the inquiry:

• The authorities have shown a “troubling lack of momentum, funding, and ambition” when it comes to prevention of sexual offences.
• Current efforts are criticised as “fragmented, under-funded and overly reliant on short-term solutions,” insufficient to tackle a crisis with long-term roots.
• There must be a shift from reactive policing — investigating offences after they occur — to proactive prevention: intervening early in predatory behaviour, identifying and monitoring known or potential repeat offenders, and robust vetting procedures for police recruits and officers.

The report bluntly warns that without fundamental structural changes, Britain risks allowing further tragedies to occur. It argues that the case of Couzens should not be viewed as a rare outlier but as a caution-tale — one that reveals what can happen when oversight, accountability, and preventive measures are weak.

The Numbers Tell a Grim Story

To underscore the urgency, the report cites recent data: in the 12 months to March, around 900,000 people aged 16 and over in England and Wales experienced sexual assault — among them 739,000 women and girls.

The increase in recorded sexual offences over the past decade also highlights a disturbing upward trend. Many experts argue the actual number of offences is likely higher still, due to under-reporting and systemic biases that discourage victims from coming forward.

The inquiry emphasised that these statistics reflect a crisis point — one where policing and criminal justice approaches have failed too many victims, and where inaction or insufficient action is no longer acceptable.

What Needs to Change: Recommendations for Reform

The report doesn’t only diagnose the problem; it outlines a blueprint for reform. Key recommendations include:

• Early-intervention programs targeting individuals with known histories of predatory behaviour — not just after crimes have been committed, but before. That includes better monitoring of repeat offenders, mandatory follow-ups on initial complaints, and more thorough investigation of “low-level” offences such as indecent exposure, which sometimes precede more serious crimes.
• Stricter vetting procedures for recruitment and retention of police officers, with automatic exclusion for those with histories of sexual misconduct or even related complaints that were not fully investigated. The report notes that previous recommendations along these lines (from a first report in February 2024) have still not been fully implemented.
• Sustainable resources and funding, shifting away from short-term, ad hoc responses to sexual crimes toward a long-term, strategic investment in prevention, investigation capacity, victim support, and training.
• National coordination and oversight, rather than leaving responsibility to individual police forces. The inquiry argues that a unified, government-backed campaign is essential to treat violence against women and girls (VAWG) with the same priority as other serious crimes.

The report insists this must be more than cosmetic — it should mark a turning point in policing culture, priorities, and accountability across the UK.

Government Response: Promises — but Will They Deliver?

In response to the report, Shabana Mahmood, the UK’s interior minister, said the government would carefully review each recommendation and committed to the goal of halving violence against women and girls within a decade.

Mahmood described the report’s findings as “utterly unacceptable,” and acknowledged that current policing and prevention systems have fallen short of the public’s expectations and needs.

Yet, for many survivors, advocacy groups and legal experts, such pledges ring hollow without clear timelines, concrete funding and robust accountability mechanisms. As critics point out, similar promises have been made in the past — but often delivered only haltingly, if at all. History suggests that without persistent pressure and independent oversight, such reforms risk being diluted or delayed.

Survivors, Advocates and Public Reaction

The release of the report triggered a wave of public reaction — a mixture of cautious hope, anger, grief and frustration. For many survivors of sexual violence, the findings articulated a long-felt truth: that the system remains ill-equipped to safeguard women and girls, and often fails to believe or support victims.

Advocacy groups said the report validated years of warnings: that violence against women must be treated as a structural, societal crisis — not a series of isolated incidents. Many urged for swift implementation of all recommendations, and for additional measures to ensure transparency and accountability within police forces.

Some commentators argued that culture change — both within policing and in society at large — is as important as legal or procedural reform. They called for education campaigns, public awareness, and systemic efforts to change attitudes that normalize harassment, trivialise sexual assault, or shift blame onto victims.

At the same time, many pointed to the chilling fact that, despite previous inquiries and promises, little real change has been embedded in policing structures — meaning this report could be a test of whether leaders are prepared to act or simply pay lip service.

Why This Matters: Beyond One Case

While the report was sparked by the horrific murder committed by a police officer, its implications go far beyond that single event. The systemic failures uncovered — from inadequate vetting to under-resourced prevention efforts — suggest a broader culture of complacency and neglect.

Sexual offences against women and girls are not a marginal issue confined to a few bad actors; they are pervasive, often under-reported, and deeply embedded in societal and institutional flaws. According to the report’s data, hundreds of thousands of women experience sexual assault annually in England and Wales alone.

Left unchecked, these injustices will continue, not because perpetrators cannot be traced or punished — but because the system lacks the will, resources or structure to prioritise prevention, protection and justice for victims.

The Road Ahead: What Needs to Happen

For the recommendations of the report to translate into real change, several critical steps must be taken — and soon.

1. Concrete government commitment — including legislation, resourcing and clear benchmarks for progress, rather than vague promises.
2. Comprehensive police vetting reform, with retrospective reviews of officers’ records and immediate removal of those with credible complaints or histories of misconduct.
3. Scaling up prevention and early intervention programmes, targeting predatory behaviour before it escalates, and investing in victim support services, community awareness and rehabilitation.
4. National coordination and accountability mechanisms, ensuring consistent standards across all police forces and public transparency about progress, setbacks, and outcomes.
5. Cultural change — within policing and society — to end victim-blaming, normalisation of harassment, and institutional minimisation of sexual crimes.    

The new inquiry report lays bare a stark reality: for too long, the UK criminal justice system has tolerated a tolerance — if not complacency — toward sexual violence against women and girls. It highlights that even those entrusted with enforcing the law are capable of grave betrayal, and that systemic failures can allow predators to slip through the cracks with tragic consequences.

But it also offers a path forward — one that requires commitment, resources, courage and accountability. The recommendations are not merely suggestions; they are demands for justice, for safety, for dignity. Whether the UK seizes this moment of reckoning remains to be seen.

For survivors, for advocates, and for society as a whole, the report is a reminder — and a call to action. As one advocate put it: “This must mark a turning point.”

Whether that turning point becomes a transformation will depend on whether leaders follow through — and whether police, government, and public alike are prepared to finally treat sexual violence as the national emergency it is.