FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8th December 2025
Report calls for perpetrator-focused prevention, national standards, and culture change, but structural misogyny remains unaddressed.
On 2 December 2025, the Angiolini Inquiry issued its Part 2 First Report. This report builds on Part 1, published in February 2024 in the wake of the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens. Part 1 detailed how Couzens was able to stay within policing for years despite a history of predatory sexual behaviour, exposing multiple systemic failures.
The second part of the report shifts focus to the systemic issues across policing and society, whether current policies and practices meaningfully prevent sexually motivated crimes against women and girls in public spaces.
The Inquiry surveyed public opinion and unsurprisingly found that many women reported feeling unsafe in public spaces, a stark reminder that this is not a matter of a few “bad apples,” but evidence of structural risk and systemic failings.
Some promising initiatives were highlighted, for example Project Vigilant (a policing operation to target predatory men in night-time economy settings) and Operation Soteria (which aims to improve police and prosecution responses to rape). However, the report concludes that current efforts are often fragmented, short-term, inconsistent and under-resourced, with many police forces lacking even basic policies for investigating sexual offences.
The key calls from the report include:
Focus on perpetrators, prioritising early identification and disruption over advising women on how to stay safe.
National standards, so women’s safety doesn’t depend on postcode or force.
Better multi-agency coordination, uniting policing, local authorities, transport, licensing, and community groups.
Long-term investment in prevention, not short-term pilots.
Improved data and evaluation to understand patterns and scale successful initiatives.
Culture change, including education for men and boys to challenge harmful gender norms.
Police vetting and conduct reforms to prevent systemic failures like those exposed in Couzens’ case.
Kay Wesley, Equality Party Leader, welcomed the report, but demanded more:
“Women should be able to walk home without fear. This report confirms that structural change is long overdue – not just better lighting in public places. As we mark the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls, we urge everyone to speak out against sexism and misogyny. Men especially should consider joining campaigns like White Ribbon, which challenge harmful attitudes and support real prevention.
While early-intervention measures are welcome, they will fall short unless government confronts the entrenched cultural misogyny that allows predatory behaviour to persist and leaves women unprotected.”
The Equality Party urges the government to act immediately on the Inquiry’s recommendations, ensuring a coordinated, adequately resourced, and system-wide approach to preventing sexual violence.
The Equality Party 