Queen Camilla visits Wiltshire to see improvements on tackling VAWG
Wiltshire Police was able to show how it's improved handling VAWG offences
The Queen has visited Wiltshire Police to see how violence against women and girls is being dealt with.
She met with a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG), which was set up last year.
EVAWG is made up of members of the public, members of the judiciary, police, representatives from domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders.
The group has also become part of Wiltshire Police's Independent Advisory Group (IAG), which helps provide insight to boost services to victims and communities.
The royal visit was arranged by Lady Landsdown, who is chair of both EVAWG and the IAG, and also included a meeting with Carole and Matthew Gould, parents of Ellie Gould.
Ellie was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Calne in 2019 and her parents have been campaigning for stronger domestic abuse laws since her death.
The Force was also able to show The Queen the progress it's making on tackling VAWG, with 2024 seeing rape convictions rise from 50% to 82%.
There was also a 46% increase in stalking offences being reports, which follows staffing being given more training.
Arrest rates for stalking and domestic abuse are also up.
Stalking arrests are up more than 5%, with domestic abuse arrests rising by 2.6% from 2023.
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."
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."