Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases involved violence against (a) women and (b) girls in (i) criminal and (ii) family courts in each of the last five years.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government, which is why we have committed to halving the prevalence of VAWG within the decade. We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published this year.

VAWG is defined as offences which predominantly, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. This includes sexual offences, stalking, harassment and domestic abuse.

Published data on the number of cases of stalking, harassment and sexual offences at criminal courts can be found in the Outcomes by Offence data tool published here: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024.

Data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not include detailed information about victims of offences and the nature of the offence. Therefore, information on some violence against women and girls and domestic abuse cases can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.