How Gendered Processes of Institutional Formation Shape Policy Outcomes: A Case Study of Policies to Address Violence Against Women and Girls Under the New Police and Crime Commissioners (England and Wales)

Feminist scholarship on the adoption of policies addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) has hitherto stressed the importance of the activities of international, national and local women's movements as crucial for ensuring policy action (Weldon, 2002; Montaya, 2009; Abrar, 1996). However there has been less focus on the determinants of implementation and outcomes of VAWG policies when adopted. Often the agencies and actors charged with implementing and overseeing policies on VAWG operate at the sub national level and we argue understanding these institutional arrangements is key for those seeking to achieve policy reforms to address VAWG. Drawing upon feminist institutionalism (Krook and Mackay, 2011), we set out a framework for considering how gender is implicated in institutional arrangements (building on Gains and Lowndes, 2014). The paper investigates how institutional change in England and Wales is shaping VAWG policy and implementation, using a case study of local police and crime commissioners (introduced in 2010). Findings draw attention to the gendered dynamics of institutional layering (Mahoney and Thelen, 2010) as new institutional rules are, in effect, grafted on to existing arrangements, which themselves embody particular sets of power relationships. The paper also considers the role of gendered actors (both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the new institution) in shaping processes of institutional design and change, which in turn provide opportunities for, or constraints upon, the implementation of VAWG policies.