Violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence: national advisers annual plan 2026 to 2027

As National Adviser for the Welsh Ministers, I am required under Section 22 of Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 to publish an annual plan setting out my ambition and priorities for the next year. This is the first plan of my second term. I am hugely honoured and grateful to have been appointed for this second term. I am committed to doing my utmost to deliver the aims of the VAWDASV Act. I am realistic that we have a long way to go until we can achieve the ambition of “Wales being the safest place to be a woman in Europe”. This is a shared responsibility in which we all must do our part.

This annual plan for 2026 to 2027 provides me with an opportunity to share my aim and priorities for the year. It is important that there is an openness to my approach, to the role and accountability for the work I undertake. In developing this annual plan, I have sought the views of stakeholders including Welsh Government, the specialist sector and survivors. The role remit is wide, the needs of survivors greater than ever and can only be met with a full whole societal approach to change. This annual plan and my priorities attempt to deliver that whole society approach.

We are in the final year of the 2022 to 2026 VAWDASV strategy, through this and the delivery of the Blueprint model we have made collective progress and also learned more of the challenges and gaps. We need more engagement, representation and commitment from public services in Wales addressing VAWDASV. The VAWDASV Act places duties on relevant authorities in Wales to deliver the purpose of the Act to prevent, protect and support those at risk of, and those experiencing abuse and harm. It requires that local authorities and health boards create local strategies, set objectives and undertake action. There is more to be done. Domestic abuse alone costs £66 billion pounds a year. It is time to invest in prevention and early intervention, to provide timely support to survivors to stop the enduring harm and limit the human and financial costs of VAWDASV. Both the Survivor Voice and Scrutiny Panel and the Expert Reference Group (formed of the specialist sector in Wales) have been clear, the need for a whole system response that connects survivors with the services when they need them continues to be of the highest priority. A whole system response to VAWDASV is a collaborative approach provided across organisations and services, using combined resources and a shared common interest to address the problem. A whole system approach works with survivors and their children, as well as perpetrators to address harm. It also seeks to address the root causes and provides opportunities to prevent and intervene early. It enables the ‘no wrong door’ approach and offers needs led, strengths-based services at the time that a survivor needs them. This will require a connection of knowledgeable staff and defined support in public services with expert, well-funded specialist services.

The demand for specialist services continues to rise and has risen year on year since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Welsh Women’s Aid State of the Sector reports have evidenced this and this year’s report details the pressure on services with 88% of their member services experiences an increase in services. Data from specialist sexual violence services Wales also shows an increase in referrals for services. We want more people to seek help and as early as possible. Approximately a third of suicides in Wales are committed by perpetrators or victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Lessons learned from the Single Unified Safeguarding reviews provide us with hundreds of recommendations of what a better system would look like. Some of this requires funding but not all, there are opportunities to reduce public spending. The need to intervene earlier is clear. However, the pressures of limited funding, housing crisis and increased complexity of needs result in the specialist services being overwhelmed.  We all too often rely on specialist services to never close their doors and do more with less each year. This is not sustainable, and we are risking the welfare and lives of women and families in Wales both survivors and those who work tirelessly in the sector.  Through the work that I am committing to in this annual plan, I will offer deliverable recommendations for what more can be done by government and public bodies to deliver against the duties within the VAWDASV Act and prevent, protect and support people in Wales.

There have been a number of publications, such as those detailed below from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and developments that provide opportunities, improved evidence and understanding and mechanisms for the alignment of the work required under the VAWDASV Act and other legislation and policy in Wales. 

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s reports Victims in Their Own Right? Babies, children and young people’s experience of domestic abuse and the most recent The Family Court and domestic abuse: achieving cultural change demonstrate the gaps in services for children and how they can be further harmed by the very system that should be protecting them. We must do better to respond to children and young people, through healthy relationships education, family interventions and therapeutic services specifically for children and young people affected by VAWDASV.

The Women’s Health Plan, produced by the NHS Executive, with a priority (7) dedicated to VAWDASV. This should bring more focus on VAWDASV in health boards, a developing evidence base and improved accountability which would stimulate and enable better pathways for support for survivors. Improving interventions and pathways with health services is a vital component of a whole system response to VAWDASV.  In recent consultation in planning for the next VAWDASV strategy 100% of the focus groups raised health as a priority for improved recognition and response to VAWDASV.  Through the Women’s Health Plan and other opportunities, I will commit my efforts to improving this response. 

The Single Unified Safeguarding Review and the repository containing all of the Domestic Homicide Reviews, Adult Practice Reviews and Child Practice Reviews affords us all an opportunity and responsibility to learn the lessons. The commonality of recommendations from each review is something that we must take note of and deliver the systems change needed to prevent high harms and deaths.

The Mental Health Strategy for 2025 to 2035 states the following as its mission statement:

“People in Wales will live in a country which promotes, supports and empowers them to improve their mental health and wellbeing, and will be free from stigma and discrimination.” 

It commits to providing services that are seamless, needs-led and recovery-focused and through a connected system where all people receive the appropriate level of support wherever they reach out for help. There is a recognition of violence and abuse, among other contextual factors that influence mental health and well-being and looks to wider systems of integrated support. 

The 2025 Suicide and Self Harm and Suicide Strategy aims to reduce the rates of suicide and attempted suicides. As previously mentioned, both perpetrators and victims are highly represented in suicides in Wales. To reduce the rate of suicide, it is integral to address and reduce VAWDASV.

In August 2025, the UK Government committed to introducing a statutory definition of honour-based abuse. This should lead to improved identification of victims and perpetrators and offer better support to address these crimes. This should improve the consistency of identification and response to honour-based abuse and particularly improve criminal justice outcomes for victims and survivors.

The UK Government has committed to delivering a new Violence against Women and Girls Strategy. I sit on the advisory board chaired by Ministers Jess Philips and Alex Davies-Jones. The strategy aims to deliver the ambition of halving violence against women in the next 10 years. I attend the board to represent the interests of Wales. Some of the strategy will be delivered through reserved bodies i.e. the criminal justice system. However, where the strategy is not directly relevant for Wales but provides enhanced opportunities to prevent, protect and support, we must ensure there is parity for people in Wales. 

In 2026 and with the start of a new Welsh Government, the next iteration of the VAWDASV strategy will be developed. I will offer my support so to help align the UK and Welsh strategies so that we maximise opportunities for people in Wales. The new Welsh strategy will provide an opportunity to renew and strengthen commitments. We can learn from the work of the current strategy and build upon it. I will support this work with a spirit of ambition and pushing forwards for Wales to be the safest place to be a woman. 

As National Adviser, it is important that I recognise and champion the need for an intersectional approach to tackling VAWDASV. Intersectionality recognises that survivors experience multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination based on their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics.  Despite the progress made, survivors with specific protected characteristics continue to report systemic discrimination and barriers when seeking safety, justice, and support. While Black and minoritised women are more likely to experience violence and abuse, they are also less likely to seek support. I will continue to engage with specialist services, Black, Asian and minoritised survivors to ensure that I am providing informed representation and that their experiences are considered in the work that I do and the advice and support I provide. 

Within the current climate and discourse on who is a threat to women, I am concerned about the ongoing inequalities and increased hostility to Black and marginalised people means that we will become even further away from achieving our goals. The fact is that women across society experience abuse and in many facets of their daily lives. The most common perpetrator is someone known to a woman, most often a partner or ex-partner, and the most serious of offences are committed in the home. I will continue to advocate for targeted actions that address survivors’ experiences and provide equal access to safety and recovery for all survivors.

This annual plan must be in-keeping with the role and remit of the National Adviser.  

The functions of the Adviser, as set out in the Act are to:

• advise the Welsh Ministers regarding pursuing the purpose of the Act or tackling related matters
• give other assistance to the Welsh Ministers in their pursuit of the purpose of the Act or tackling related matters
• to undertake research relating to pursuing the purpose of the Act, tackling related matters or examining whether abuse of any kind is related directly or indirectly to inequality of any kind between people of a different gender, gender identity or sexual orientation
• to advise and give other assistance, with the agreement of the Welsh Ministers, to any person on matters relating to pursuing the purpose of the Act or tackling related matters
• produce reports on any matter relating to the purpose of the Act or tackling related matters

In fulfilling these functions there is an expectation that the adviser will also:

• work with victims and survivors, to gain an understanding of their experiences and views and to consider how these could influence the development of policy and delivery of services
• support the delivery of the VAWDASV strategy and Blueprint approach, including co-chairing the Sustainable Whole System Approach workstream
• chair the Survivor Voice Scrutiny and Involvement Panel, an integral aspect of the VAWDASV Blueprint approach, informing strategy policy and decision making
• work with and advise local authorities, local health boards, fire and rescue authorities and NHS trusts on the delivery of their responsibilities within the Act, ensuring that prevention, protection and support for victims and survivors remains a core priority for services

As the National Adviser for Wales under the VAWDASV Act 2015, this plan outlines the aims and priorities for 2026 to 2027. Following 10 years of the Act but also as we look to the new government and the next VAWDASV strategy, it is important that I am able to have a comprehensive understanding of current delivery, the opportunities for improvements as well as the good practice that already exists. We need to have true cross-government, whole-system responses in Wales that prevent, protect and support. This is the only we can get closer to the goal of eliminating violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. 

It is within this context that I have set the following aim for the next year:

• To provide a robust evidence base for improved delivery of the ambitions of the Act, ensuring a whole of Wales commitment to preventing abuse and protecting and supporting those affected by violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

To fulfil on my aim, I have set the following priorities:

1. To develop an understanding of the current government delivery of VAWDASV to be able to better inform a more coherent whole of government approach to VAWDASV.
2. To undertake a review of the current arrangements by public bodies to deliver their duties under VAWDASV Act with the aim of improving my advice and support to them as well as to Welsh Government Ministers.
3. To work with arms lengths bodies and strategic boards such as Public Health Wales, Medr and Area Planning Boards, to improve alignment of relevant policy and activity relating to VAWDASV and maximise opportunities to prevent, protect and support those at risk of and experiencing VAWDASV.
4. To support the improvement of data and evidence for VAWDASV which should direct the development of policy, operational delivery and an understanding of the progress made and yet to be made under the Act.
5. To draft a number of thematic reports that will provide enhanced advice and information on best practice, areas of opportunity, ways to practically align government policy and approaches. 
6. To ensure that all of the priorities above, the work of government and public bodies in Wales to address VAWDASV is done in collaboration with the victims, survivors and the specialist sector who by experience, commitment and sustained effort continue to be the experts and must be central to strategy, policy and delivery.

To improve the accountability of the National Adviser, I will be producing a delivery plan to provide detail on the actions I will take for the implementation of this annual plan. I will provide regular progress reports, to the Welsh Government, to ministers and other stakeholders including the National Survivor Scrutiny and Involvement Panel. 

The role of the National Adviser for VAWDASV is one of support, advice and influence. It provides an opportunity to support continued progress towards the delivery of the VAWDASV Act and VAWDASV National Strategy. It is a role that I do with absolute commitment to the goal of eliminating VAWDASV underpinned by a duty to respond to survivors’ experiences and to continue to amplify their voices in all that I do. There are many partners that I will continue to engage and work with in the pursuit of this goal; public services who have duties within the act, reserved services such as policing and the vital specialist services. It is possible that Wales can be the safest place in Europe to be a woman, but for that we must all play our part.