Specialist Rape courts & the early release scheme
In the space of a single week, the government announced two significant steps forward for women's safety in England and Wales. However, the news of an early release scheme for prisoners in the UK has left women that have been subjected to sexual or domestic abuse 'petrified'. Taken together, they paint a complicated picture of where the UK stands on violence against women and girls in 2026.
A New Court System Built Around Women
Recently on 21 September 2026, the government announced the rollout of specialist rape courts to every Crown Court in England and Wales. The dedicated courtrooms are designed around the needs of those who have experienced sexual violence. This includes:
· private waiting rooms,
· separate entrances and exits,
· pre-recorded evidence capabilities,
· and trauma-informed staff throughout.
The announcement responds to a deeply troubling statistic: in 2025, rape cases took an average of 424 days to reach completion in Crown Court. Many women subjected to sexual violence withdrew before their case was ever heard. Lord Chancellor Alex Norris acknowledged the scale of the failure directly: "Victims have been treated as cases to process and not as people to support."
Under the new system, rape cases will receive fixed trial dates rather than being placed on floating lists where they can be pushed back indefinitely. A single point of contact will be assigned to each case, and victims will be able to observe sentencing remotely. A new Rape Justice Taskforce will tackle trial postponements, and all police forces will have dedicated rape investigation teams in place by the end of 2027.
For organisations like GINA, which supports women in the West Midlands subjected to sexual violence and abuse, the announcement is a meaningful step — one that recognises what specialist services and the women they support have been saying for years: that the justice system itself has been a source of further harm.
A Taskforce to Tackle Misogyny at Its Roots
A day earlier, on 20 September, the government launched a National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny, chaired by Bridget Phillipson, Minister for Women and Equalities. The taskforce will bring together women's organisations, academics, and community leaders to examine how misogyny operates across workplaces, schools, digital spaces, and public life, and what effective prevention looks like.
The move is accompanied by a £16 million package for harmful behaviour prevention and healthy relationships education, and a £10 million intervention fund for children at risk. It is, in part, a recognition that the numbers of women and girls reporting misogynistic behaviour , online and in person, are rising, and that a legislative response alone is not enough.
Girlguiding CEO Felicity Oswald highlighted the particular urgency for young women, noting that girls are reporting "rising levels of sexism and misogyny online, in public and in schools." The taskforce's first meeting will focus specifically on young people, a signal that the government sees early intervention as central to its approach.
Crucially, the End Violence Against Women Coalition has set a condition for the taskforce's success: meaningful engagement across all government departments, not just the equalities brief. Without that, critics warn, the taskforce risks becoming symbolic rather than systemic.
But the Early Release Scheme Casts a Shadow
Despite the UK government announcing these two steps to further support women and girls in the UK, the government's early release scheme, which reduces automatic release from 50% to 40% of a custodial sentence, has raised serious alarm among women's safety organisations and the women they support. From the 1st October, around 700 prisoners are set to be released under the new scheme.
Women's Aid has reported a surge in calls from women frightened about imminent releases — many with little warning and no safety planning support in place.
"Women's Aid is deeply concerned about the impact of early release on women subjected to domestic abuse. Many women have carefully built safety plans around expected release dates. The sudden change to those dates — with little notice and limited support — puts lives at risk." - Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive, Women's Aid
The government has excluded those convicted of rape, serious sexual offences, domestic homicide and strangulation from the scheme, but campaigners warn that many domestic abuse perpetrators whose offences fall outside those categories will still qualify. Licence conditions offer limited practical protection, particularly given that research into domestic homicide cases consistently finds perpetrators had previously breached bail or licence conditions before the killing.
Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, has moved to block the early release of rapists in England and Wales, but the scope of the exclusions remains a live debate, and for many women, the announcement has arrived too late and with too little support attached to it.
What This Means — and What Needs to Come Next
Taken together, this week's announcements reflect a government that is beginning to take violence against women and girls seriously as a systemic issue, not just a series of individual tragedies. Specialist rape courts and a misogyny taskforce are not small gestures. They represent a shift in how the state understands its responsibility.
But progress and risk are not mutually exclusive, and this week has demonstrated both. A court system built around women means little if those women are living in fear because of an early release scheme that did not adequately account for their safety. A taskforce on misogyny must grapple with the fact that the conditions enabling harassment and abuse are not confined to schools and workplaces — they play out in prisons, in licence conditions, and in the gap between a woman's safety plan and her perpetrator's release date.
GINA continues to call for women's safety to be treated as a joined-up priority across government, not a series of separate policy announcements, but a coherent commitment that accounts for the full picture of risk. In response to this recent news , Head of GINA Lucy Hebberts has commented:
“Specialist rape courts and action on misogyny are important steps forward, but women’s safety cannot be addressed through isolated announcements. We need a joined-up approach that considers the full picture… from prevention and justice to perpetrator management and access to specialist support. Most importantly, women must be listened to at every stage.”
If you need support
If you have been subjected to sexual violence or abuse, GINA offers free, confidential support in the West Midlands. Head to gina.uk.com
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, is available 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
SOURCES
ITV News — Government launches National Taskforce to Tackle Misogyny (itv.com, 20 September 2026)
ITV News — Domestic abuse survivor 'petrified' by early prisoner release scheme (itv.com, 31 August 2026)
Women's Aid — Women's Aid responds to the latest early release scheme amendments (womensaid.org.uk)
Sky News — Andy Burnham blocks early prison release for rapists (news.sky.com)
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