Her Majesty The Queen visits Wiltshire to hear how the county is tackling violence against women and girls

Wiltshire Police welcomed Her Majesty The Queen this week to hear about work being carried out in the county to tackle violence against women and girls.

On Monday, February 24th, the Queen joined representatives from across Wiltshire who are working together to tackle violence against women and girls.

Last year, a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) was established, comprising members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders.

Following the positive connections and conversations, the group also agreed to be part of Wiltshire Police's Independent Advisory Group, acting as a critical friend to the police and providing insight to improve services to victims and communities.

The chair of both groups is Lady Lansdowne, who coordinated the visit of Her Majesty to hear about the work being done in Wiltshire. This included a private meeting with Carole and Matthew Gould, the parents of Ellie Gould, who was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Calne in 2019 and who have been campaigning for tougher domestic abuse laws. 

Chief Constable Catherine Roper said, "It was a huge honour to present to Her Majesty The Queen the progress being made by Wiltshire Police to tackle violence against women and girls.

"That progress has only been possible through the improved trust and confidence from victims, their families, community members, and partner agencies in the policing service we are offering, and in our commitment to robustly tackling this heinous criminality."

Wiltshire Police presented to Her Majesty details of how the Force's performance is improving in this area, including:

• A rise in rape convictions from 50% in January 2024 to 82% in December 2024
• An increase in reported stalking offences by 46% in the last year following increased staff training

And arrest rate increases for both stalking and DA

• Stalking has risen 50.4% an increase of by 5.3% on the previous year
• DA has risen to 49.1%, an increase of 2.6% compared with 2023

Temporary Detective Superintendent Lucy Thorne said, "I'm thrilled that we could welcome Her Majesty to hear about the hard work that Wiltshire Police have been carrying out to improve our service to victims and communities.

"We know that continuous focus and improvement is needed to strengthen our response to VAWG, and the Force has been working closely with some fantastic people who are dedicated to ending violence against women and girls. It has been an honour to share this moment with them to be able to present to Her Majesty, who has consistently shown her own absolute commitment to eradicating VAWG, the considerable efforts being made across Wiltshire."

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, Chair of Refuge, said, "Achieving much-needed system-wide improvements to the response to domestic abuse and violence against women and girls requires not just a national approach but a local one to ensure real and genuine progress that directly impacts on victims and our communities.

"I am delighted to be part of the Wiltshire EVAWG program, and the support of Her Majesty The Queen means a huge amount. This will enable us to amplify our work and get more and more of the wider community involved."