New initiative will support community-led projects across the UK to tackle violence against women and girls and scale effective prevention measures.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced a new £10 million programme aimed at preventing violence and abuse against women and girls through locally led projects and evidence-based interventions. The Violence Against Women and Girls Prevention Accelerator will support grassroots initiatives across the UK, helping successful approaches expand into more communities.

Funded through UKRI’s Safer Streets Mission, the programme is designed to strengthen national capability to prevent violence before it occurs. Projects will work with partners including government bodies, charities, philanthropists and social impact investors to develop and scale interventions that improve safety in public spaces and address harmful behaviours at an early stage.

The announcement forms part of wider government efforts to halve violence against women and girls, as well as knife crime, within the next decade. Alongside the Prevention Accelerator, an additional £4 million has been allocated through the Evaluation Accelerator Fund, comprising £1 million from UKRI and £3 million from the Cabinet Office, to support the assessment of promising approaches.

A key aim of the initiative is to generate robust evidence on what works in preventing violence against women and girls. UKRI plans to support the testing of new innovations and create a national evidence resource that can help successful interventions be adopted more widely. Further details on participation and expressions of interest are expected ahead of the programme’s anticipated launch in spring 2027.