More than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences, a report has found, four years after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

Lady Elish Angiolini KC’s latest report, looking at the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public, said the crimes remained widespread, criticised limited data on them and called for urgent action to prevent predators from offending.

“This report should mark a turning point. In the wake of tragic cases like Sarah Everard’s and many others, the need for change is pressing and the evidence is clear.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would carefully consider the recommendations.

It comes after the first part of her report published in February 2024 found Ms Everard’s killer should never have been a police officer and opportunities were missed to stop him.

The remit of the second part of her report, published on Tuesday, examines the extent to which existing measures prevent sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.

Ms Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving police officer Wayne Couzens while walking home in south London in March 2021.

Couzens, who is now serving a whole life term in jail, had been a police officer for almost 20 years and had indecently exposed himself on two occasions in the months leading up to the attack.

Ms Everard’s mother Susan said in a statement to the latest stage of the inquiry: “I go through a turmoil of emotions – sadness, rage, panic, guilt and numbness.

“They used to come all in one day but as time goes by they are more widely spaced and, to some extent, time blunts the edges.”

• Sarah Everard: How Wayne Couzens planned her murder

Two years ago the government outlined the need for police forces to coordinate their response and resources to tackle violence against women and girls in the same way they do for other crimes that are viewed as national threats.

But the Angiolini Inquiry said until this is done, tackling violence against women and girls would not credibly be called a national priority.

In part one of her report, published in February last year, Lady Elish had recommended that by September 2024, police forces should ensure they have a specialist policy on investigating all sexual offences, including “non-contact” offences like indecent exposure.

The latest stage of the inquiry was told the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) had developed guidance to support forces with this, but as of September this year 26% of police forces had not implemented the recommendation.

The NPCC said the majority of those forces were still reviewing existing policies to determine if they are sufficient or consulting on new ones, according to the report.

The report also pointed to concerns over gaps in national data, including how many women report being the victim of rape and other sexually motivated crimes in public spaces.

Lady Elish warned that without these figures being gathered and recorded consistently across all forces, patterns of offending cannot be spotted.

The NPCC said it was considering the findings carefully and it acknowledged urgent action is required.

“We are already working proactively to recognise, intervene, and interrupt predatory behaviour in public spaces, and are pleased the report acknowledges this work,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Millichap said.

Part two of the Angiolini Inquiry recommended the government and police prioritising prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces, a comprehensive government strategy, and a focus on perpetrators.

Other recommendations include:

• Improving information and programmes to create a culture of positive masculinity for men and boys
• Targeted consistent public messaging about how to report crimes, such as indecent exposure
• Increased use of police officers to help architects and planners in the design of safe public spaces
• Roll-out in England and Wales of Project Vigilant started by Thames Valley Police to focus on men targeting women in the night-time economy, and converting more promising policing initiatives into national practice
• Implementation of Operation Soteria, a programme to improve the response of police and the Crown Prosecution Service to rape cases
• Significantly increasing the collection and use of data on sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces
• The government should encourage more people to take action when they see bad behaviour and consider a wider Good Samaritan law – requiring witnesses to act when they see someone in danger

Ms Everard’s family said in a statement that they hoped these latest inquiry findings had “far-reaching consequences”.

“It shows how much work there is to do in preventing sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces and all those at risk,” the statement said.

“Sarah is always in our thoughts and we feel the inquiry continues to honour her memory. We stand in recognising the urgent need for positive change”.

Farah Naz, the aunt of Zara Aleena who was sexually assaulted and murdered after a night out in east London by a prolific offender in 2022, says she hopes the Good Samaritan law she has championed is taken seriously and progresses with urgency.

She said: “My niece was walking home. That is all she was doing. This report not only examines specific failures surrounding Sarah and Zara but also addresses the wider structures, cultural patterns and operational weaknesses that place women and girls at risk in public space.”

The home secretary said: “I will do everything I can to ensure women and girls can live free from fear and harm – something Sarah was so cruelly denied.”

She said the government plans to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade and it will soon unveil its Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy.

Responding to the report, the Police Federation of England and Wales said it exposed systematic VAWG failures and demanded urgent reform.

Its national chair Tiff Lynch said: “Robust, specialist investigative standards must be mandated and inspected across all forces, supported by sustained funding and training, not short‑term initiatives or unfunded expectations. Violence against women and girls is classified as a national threat; it must be treated, resourced and monitored as such.”

Andrea Simon, director of campaign group End Violence Against Women, said it was “deeply concerning” policing had still not implemented basic reforms.

“This inquiry confirms what women and girls have been telling us for years: that the threat and reality of men’s violence restricts our everyday lives, and efforts to prevent it remain piecemeal, short-term and chronically underfunded,” she said.

• Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens should never have been police officer – Angiolini Inquiry