Suspects held by police in major operation to tackle violence against women

The force-wide operation, which has taken months of planning, targeted a number of named suspects for alleged domestic abuse related offences across Merseyside.

These included:

• threats to kill
• disclosing private sexual images
• assault occasioning actual bodily harm
• assault by beating, harassment
• malicious communication
• breach of a non-molestation order.

Merseyside Police say those arrested range in age from 21 to 55 and are from the Wirral, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Liverpool and Skelmersdale areas.

All the suspects have been taken into custody.

No further details about the arrests have been released at this stage.

The day of action coincides with the launch of Merseyside Police's Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Plan which aims to target and pursue offenders, create safer spaces and improve trust and confidence in the police.

'Many incidents go unreported'

In a statement police said: "We know that every day across Merseyside, and the UK, women and girls are subjected to incidents of violence, hate and sexual assault at work, in schools, on public transport, in open spaces and at home.

"Many of these incidents go unreported and we know that more needs to be done to address this.

"Tackling violence against women and girls is already a priority for Merseyside Police and the plan reiterates our commitment to making the difference that we know our communities expect from us."

Chief Constable's statement

Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: “Today’s day of action is visible evidence of our ongoing commitment to pursuing offenders and protecting women and girls and I hope that it demonstrates to people that we will take positive action to bring perpetrators to justice and gives confidence to victims and survivors to come forward and speak to us.

“Merseyside Police is absolutely committed to not only responding to reports of crime against women and girls but taking all opportunities to reduce this by also making the best use of all the tools at our disposal including protection and preventative orders.

“We want to make Merseyside a place where women and girls feel safe and can live their lives free from fear and harassment but we know this is not something we can do alone. Violence against women and girls is a problem across society and needs a collaborative solution.

“We will work with women and girls to ensure they have a voice in how we deliver and develop our services and we will continue to work with our partners to better support women and girls to ensure they feel safe, that action is taken in their time of need and that they have assistance accessing emotional support or help with accommodation or finances.

The Home Secretary and Chief Constable of Merseyside Police met today

“Internally we will continue to develop the culture of our force and seek out and investigate those who don’t represent the professional standards we would expect from police officers and staff.

"We will also continue to work to ensure there is a force-wide understanding of VAWG and have a culture that displays attitudes and behaviour that will not tolerate misogyny in the organisation or community."

Merseyside Police has also welcomed a visit from Home Secretary Priti Patel and Hampshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, who is the national police lead for violence against women and girls.

They were able to listen to a number of presentations and meet officers and staff from the Violence Reduction Partnership, the Unity team which is responsible for investigating sexual offences and the Op Cornerstone team who are responsible for targeting domestic abuse offenders.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "Violence against women and girls are heinous crimes, and I am determined to tackle this threat head on.

"Across England and Wales we are recruiting 20,000 additional police officers to help make our streets safer. 629 extra officers have been recruited to Merseyside Police so far and they have opened a dedicated unit to ensure specially-trained officers are available to support rape victims.

"This is all part of delivering on our priority of tackling the varied crimes of violence against women and girls, which are simply unacceptable, and also preventable."