Home secretary Priti Patel has said police forces must “raise the bar” by taking harassment and flashing of women more seriously.
The cabinet minister condemned a “postcode lottery” which saw some police forces in England and Wales treat these offences as “low level”.
It comes as Boris Johnson also issued a strong rebuke to the police – saying the failure to tackle harassment and other forms of violence against women was “infuriating”.
Ms Patel told the Daily Telegraph: “I would say to all women: give voice to these issues, please … There is something so corrosive in society if people think that it’s OK to harass women verbally, physically, and in an abusive way on the street and all that kind of stuff.”
The home secretary added: “I want women to have the confidence to call it out. I don’t see all of this as low level. I don’t want to see postcode lotteries around the country.
“This is a very clear message to police to raise the bar: treat everybody in the right way. Make sure that when these crimes or concerns are reported, people are treated with respect, dignity and seriously.”
Mr Johnson says it is “infuriating” that cases involving violence against women and girls are not being taken seriously enough by police and take too long to process through the criminal justice system.
The prime minister also said too many women are “finding their lives lost to this system” while waiting and hoping for their cases to be taken seriously.
Mr Johnson made his comments after talks with Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick on Thursday following the whole life conviction given to serving officer Wayne Couzens this week for the kidnap, rape and murder of London woman Sarah Everard.
Speaking to The Times, Mr Johnson said: “Are the police taking this issue seriously enough? It’s infuriating. I think the public feel that they aren’t and they’re not wrong.”
He added: “Do I fundamentally believe the police are on our side? Yes, absolutely they are. Can you trust the police? Yes you can. But there is an issue about how we handle sexual violence, domestic violence – the sensitivity, the diligence, the time, the delay, the confusion about your mobile phone. That’s the thing we need to fix.”
The PM said police were realising that when they made arrests in such cases “they’re not getting through the system fast enough” and that this “may well be one of the reasons why they’re not doing enough to help the victims that report”.
Meanwhile, police have also come under fire for suggesting women should flag down a bus, amid other advice, if they have concerns when stopped by an officer.
Both Scotland Yard and ministers were accused of having a tone-deaf response to violence against women and girls after a string of suggestions over what action the public should take if they fear an officer is not acting legitimately.
Other advice – including shouting to a passer-by, running to a house, knocking on a door, or calling 999 – was also met with heavy criticism, with one MP branding it “derisory”.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it.”
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said on Twitter: “We want to know what the Met are doing to address the deeply rooted problems with violence against women within the force. This completely derisory advice shows they’re still not taking it seriously.”
The Met stressed the advice was given for specific, and rare, scenarios in which people doubted the identity of any solo plain clothes police officer engaging with them.
It comes as a new YouGov survey found 38 per cent of adults in the UK think Dame Cressida should quit as Met chief, while 27 per cent said she should stay and 35 per cent did not know.
