Violence against women at crisis level in Britain, Government told

Women are suffering "crisis levels" of rape, domestic violence, sex abuse and harassment, campaigners say. Protesters took their demands for action to Downing Street yesterday and handed in a dossier warning that violence affected women of all backgrounds in every part of the country. They said almost half of women had been hit by their partner, had suffered a sexual attack or had been stalked. And they accused ministers of being in disarray over the problem and lacking a co-ordinated approach to combatting violence.

The protesters were joined in Downing Street by victims of sex abuse and the relatives of murdered women. They included Liz Longhurst, whose daughter Jane was raped and strangled in 2003 by an acquaintance, Graham Coutts, who was obsessed with violent pornography.

Mrs Longhurst, from Reading, Berkshire, said: "I hope the Government will be shamed into action. Individually, there are wonderful things going on, but the general effect is poor because there is not joined-up government." Frank Mullane, from Swindon, Wiltshire, was also among the group. His sister Julia Pemberton was shot dead with her son William at their home in Berkshire by her husband, Alan, who then killed himself. Mr Mullane said: "As a family we feel we have a duty to do what we can to stop these sickening atrocities happening again."

Julie-Anne Boyle, who was sexually abused by a family member from the age of 11, said: "I had no childhood. I was anorexic for years and hurt my body because of what others had done to me. I harmed myself because I blamed myself for what was done to me.

"It was only through counselling that I took control of my life," said Ms Boyle, 33, who now works at a rape crisis centre . "He had destroyed my past and I will be damned if he destroys my future."

The protest was organised by a new coalition, End Violence Against Women, which includes Amnesty International, the TUC and Refuge. Its dossier said government research had put the cost of domestic abuse in England and Wales at £23bn a year through "emotional harm", lost earnings and helping victims with health care and housing.

It said violence to women caused serious physical harm, miscarriages, permanent disability and death. They and their children, who often witnessed the violence, suffered lasting psychological harm, and their children were also scarred by their mother's ordeal.

The report contrasted a rise in reported rapes with a dramatic fall in the number of rape convictions. It also criticised the Government for its alleged lack of action over the problems of forced marriage, female circumcision and the trafficking of women and girls to become prostitutes.

The dossier's author, Professor Liz Kelly, said: "Women are more likely to be victims, particularly of sexual crime. There is a combination of many forms of violence. [Women] are hardly served by the system."

Sandra Gidley, the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for women, said: "Women who have been subject to violent crimes, such as domestic violence, rape and sexual assault are being badly let down by this Government." A Home Office spokesman said: "We are committed to ending violence against women in all forms. We have detailed cross-government strategies on rape, domestic violence, forced marriage and many other aspects of crime which particularly focus on women. We also work closely with the police and all the other agencies involved."

Julie-Anne Boyle; 'I blamed myself for what was done to me'

Julie-Anne Boyle's childhood turned to horror when she was sexually abused by a family member at the age of 11. He was jailed for seven months, but soon after his release began stalking her. He raped her and she fell pregnant at 18, only to suffer a miscarriage.

He has since vanished from Belfast, where the family was living, but left behind a devastated victim.

Ms Boyle, now 33, says: "I had no childhood. I was anorexic for year and hurt my body because of what others had done to me. I harmed myself because I blamed myself for what was done to me."

She says that in her mid-20s she started receiving help to turn around a life that had been blighted by bouts of depression. "It was only through counselling that I took control of my life. He had destroyed my past and I will be damned if he destroys my future."

Today she works at a rape crisis centre and with girls who are suffering the torment of sex abuse. "They are in turmoil. I tell them there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am a survivor of sexual abuse."

The offences

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

400,000 incidents took place in England and Wales in 2004-05. Two women a week are killed

RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

24,000 women reported sex attacks and 13,000 women reported rapes in 2004-05, a doubling in eight years. That could be four times higher. Rape convictions are at their lowest for 30 years.

STALKING/SEXUAL HARASSMENT

600,000 women are stalked every year.Stalkers can turn violent in 25 per cent of episodes. In 2003, 56 cases of sexual harassment were upheld at industrial tribunals.

HONOUR KILLINGS/ FORCED MARRIAGES

1,000 British Asian women a year are forced into marriage against their will. Scotland Yard has reopened 117 murder cases,which policesuspect to be "honour killings".

FORCED PROSTITUTION

1,400 women are trafficked annually to work in the sex trade.

GENITAL MUTILATION

From 6,000 to 24,000 girls in the UK are thought to be at risk. Although illegal, there has never been a conviction for this offence.