Most women think police have made little progress in stamping out sexism

MORE than half of women believe police chiefs have done little, if anything, to drive out sexist attitudes during the past year, figures show.

Fifty-three per cent say forces have made scant progress and the trust of a quarter in police tackling violence against women and girls has fallen.

The figures, obtained from YouGov polling, formed part of a report published by domestic abuse charity Refuge.

And shockingly, at least 16 women in the UK have been killed by men who were either serving police officers or had retired in the past 15 years, according to the Femicide Census.

The tally of victims includes Sarah Everard, 33, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.

Couzens, below, is serving a wholelife jail term for the killing, which put women’s safety issues under the spotlight.

Last January, Refuge launched its Remove

The Rot campaign to highlight police misconduct over violence to women and girls in England and Wales.

It placed 1,071 fake rotten apples outside New Scotland Yard, representing the number of Met officers being investigated for domestic abuse or violence against women at the time. Refuge interim CEO Ellen Miller said: “These findings should have set in motion urgent root and branch reform within policing to prevent the possibility of such heinous crimes from being allowed to take place again. But a year on from the launch of our campaign, little has changed when it comes to misogynistic attitudes within policing.We know police officers are a third less likely to be convicted for domestic abuse than non-police officers.”

The majority of women told Refuge they would trust police more if forces introduced a policy of immediate suspension from duty of any officer or staff member accused of violence.

Deanna, a domestic abuse survivor, said: “I have always felt police are unsafe, particularly because of those who take up these roles for power and control. When the default mode is to protect abusers, how can we feel safe?”

Another, Genevieve, said: “How can we encourage survivors to come forward when each of us have a negative experience with the police?

“We can’t tell our friends to go and report a crime when they wouldn’t be believed.”

A third, Ada, added: “Police-perpetrated abuse goes hand-in-hand with the dismissal of the concerns of victims of domestic abuse.”