Huge police operation targets violence against women and girls in Sheffield, as figures show low conviction rate

By Chloe Aslett
Published 8th Dec 2022, 15:27 BST
Updated 8th Dec 2022, 15:28 BST
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Two-hundred police officers have been involved in a day of action across Sheffield aiming to combat violence against women and girls.

Operation Duxford, which happens each month in one of the four South Yorkshire districts, involves a day of heightened activity to highlight work underway by the police.

Detective Chief Inspector Eleanor Walsh said: "For me personally, as a female who lives and works in Sheffield, I want women and girls here to feel safe. I want the friends and family of all the students to know they are in a safe place. We have a really rich culture and I want people to feel confident that we are on hand."

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The operation on Wednesday, December 7 had this focus to fit in with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence happening internationally. DCI Walsh added: "We deal with serious crimes for a long time after incidents are resolved. I want people to always feel the impact of that activity, not just see it today."

Two-hundred police officers have been involved in a day of action across Sheffield aiming to combat violence against women and girls.Two-hundred police officers have been involved in a day of action across Sheffield aiming to combat violence against women and girls.
Two-hundred police officers have been involved in a day of action across Sheffield aiming to combat violence against women and girls.

In the year ending March 2022, the percentage of domestic abuse related prosecutions that resulted in a conviction in the South Yorkshire Police area was 72 per cent. This was the fourth lowest conviction rate of all police areas in the country, the highest of which was 87 per cent.

DCI Walsh added: "Public confidence is difficult to build and easy to damage. Things happen nationwide, everyone sees it in the news. We want people to feel empowered to ask us what we are doing. We are an approachable organisation. I want people to tell us how they feel about things and we can improve those processes going forward."