In the UK, a violent man kills a woman every three days, and almost 25% of women report having been a victim of sexual assault. 71% of women in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space, with this number rising sharply to 86% among women aged 18–24.

Violence against women and girls can take many forms, including domestic violence, stalking, and 'honour-based' violence. Over the last decade, there has been a pandemic of newly emerging crimes against women including 'up-skirting' and 'revenge porn'. With the proliferation of the internet and smartphones, these types of crimes are on the rise, and have led to additional challenges to women's and girls' safety.

There have been some improvements to women’s safety resulting from government strategies, public initiatives and engagement with police, businesses, and schools. This includes, the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act aims to reinforce victim protection and ensure perpetrators face the law, the Mayor of London's new tackling violence against women and girls strategy for 2022-25, and the Enough campaign launched in March 2022.

This conference will address the urgent need for tackling violence against women and girls, and the current challenges to women’s safety, such as harmful cultural attitudes, social norms and stigma which according to a recent poll by IGPP, was identified as the main barrier to tackling violence against women and girls with 52% of the vote. The conference will outline methods for strengthening the system so that violence does not occur, as well as supporting victims within the criminal justice process, creating a future society that is significantly safer for women and girls.