New £10m programme to address violence against women and girls
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced plans for a new £10 million programme to support local projects to prevent violence and abuse against women and girls across the UK.
The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Prevention Accelerator will build UK-wide capability to stop violence and abuse by funding and supporting promising grassroots initiatives.
Projects will partner with government, philanthropists, and social impact investors to scale high-potential approaches into communities with the aim of making public spaces safer and preventing harmful behaviours from developing.
It is funded by a £10 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investment through the Research and Development Missions Accelerator Programme Safer Streets Mission. UKRI is the UK’s principal public funder of research and innovation.
In addition to the Prevention Accelerator, a further £1 million from UKRI and £3 million from the Cabinet Office has been awarded through the Evaluation Accelerator Fund.
The UKRI Safer Streets Mission supports the government’s ambitions to:
- halve knife crime and VAWG within a decade
- rebuild public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system
As part of this it will fund the trialling of new innovations to tackle VAWG, and the development of a national evidence resource available to support further adoption. Funding will support community-led projects to identify local priorities and work with partners.
Building on impact
It builds on impact already delivered through supported projects such as the Peer Resilience in Schools for Misogyny prevention programme which works with 16 to 17-year-olds from three schools in the north and south-west to recognise online algorithms work and why misogynistic content appears in their feeds.
Additionally, Safe Travels, in Belfast has led to women, girls, and local partners redesigning bus stops and the inside of glider buses. This aims to increase a sense of safety and prevent violence against women and girls on public transport. Government, police and transport providers are now exploring how they will implement the findings.
Further information on the Prevention Accelerator, including how to register interest, will be provided on the UKRI website with a launch anticipated in spring 2027.
