Roundtable Summary: Delivering the Digital Strategic Intent for Tackling VAWG
The roundtable welcomed over 60 attendees across the techUK membership and Policing. We heard from Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, VAWG Taskforce lead who outlined the purpose of the strategy, work of the taskforce and progress to date. She then introduced guest speaker, Zara McDermott, who fronts 3 (and soon to be 4) BBC documentaries investigating areas such as revenge porn, online abuse, sexism and rape culture in UK schools. Zara, as a victim of online abuse and trolling, spoke about her own experiences and her work to reinforce the importance of safeguarding everyone online.
We then heard an outline of the VAWG digital strategic intent (DSI) from Giles Herdale, NCA TRACER, which also included a call to action from industry to step up via the new working group being established by techUK.
Giles broke down the 3 pillars included in the DSI and how Policing and industry need to work together to:
- Create a single online reporting route for violence against women and girls, which enables victims to report and to access the support they need, when they need it.
- Adopt, adapt and create products that develop a digitally competent, confident and capable workforce in order to relentlessly pursue perpetrators and protect victims.
- Make offender-hostile online environments, working with tech providers to design out VAWG in online spaces and for the tech industry to support upstander not bystander behaviour.
The session then opened for a Q&A and discussion which included the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), College of Policing and VAWG force leads. This also included hearing from the Police Digital Service, their work and how VAWG ties in with the digital evidence project and programme focusing on tackling rape and serious sexual offense (RASSO).
If you want to hear more about techUK's working across the VAWG programme, please reach out to the team using the details below.
Cinzia Miatto
Cinzia joined techUK in August 2023 as the Justice and Emergency Services (JES) Programme Manager.
Ella Gago-Brookes
Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes, before progressing into Junior Programme Manager in January 2024.
Francesca Richiusa
Fran serves as the Programme Team Assistant within techUK’s Public Sector Market Programmes, where she is responsible for delivering comprehensive team support, managing administrative functions, and fostering strong relationships with members.
Georgie Morgan
Georgie joined techUK as the Justice and Emergency Services (JES) Programme Manager in March 2020, progressing to Head of Programme in January 2022. Her portfolio then expanded in January 2024 where she now leads our work across fraud and economic crime.
Tracy Modha
Tracy supports the marketing of several areas at techUK, including Cyber Exchange, Central Government, Cyber Resilience, Defence, Education, Health and Social Care, Justice and Emergency Services, Local Public Services, Nations and Regions and National Security.
