The government should stop seeking high-profile “quick fixes” to tackle violence against women, and instead launch a major public health campaign, provide long-term funding for the women’s sector and tackle violent pornography, according to campaigners. Plans to introduce plainclothes police officers in bars to stop perpetrators, as well as better street lighting and more CCTV were derided as “bizarre” and “performative” by campaigners, who implored ministers to listen to those with expertise in the sector to create a long-term plan. Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women (Evaw) coalition said the mooted policies which came out of the meeting were “kneejerk reactions” and accused the government of ignoring the expertise of the women’s sector. “It feels performative and it misses the point,” she said. “They want to appear to be doing something to help, without actually listening to what women want.” The prime minister chaired a meeting of the criminal justice taskforce on Monday, attended by the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, the justice secretary and the attorney general – but the minister for women and equalities, Liz Truss, was not at the meeting, nor was anyone from the Government Equalities Office. The Guardian spoke to a number of experts working to address violence against women, about the practical measures the government and individuals should be looking at. Here are some of their suggestions. Name the problem Several experts said the “penny has still not dropped” about the endemic nature of violence against women and girls. “You can’t solve a problem without being clear about what it is,” said Simon. “It’s not a problem with women being able to walk the streets at night, it is the problem of men thinking it’s OK to attack women in the streets. To tackle an epidemic of male violence against women you have to call out male violence against women, name the problem of sexism, and have leaders who refuse to accept that it is inevitable.” Public health campaign Several campaigners called for a sustained public health campaign, such as those that have tackled smoking or obesity. “There are ways of shifting society’s views and this is a public health issue,” added Simon. A government-funded equivalent of Sage – the independent scientific advisory group advising the government on the coronavirus pandemic – for tackling violence against women, would show a statement of intent and deliver clear strategies, said Dr Miranda Horvath, from Middlesex University. “Step one is listen to the evidence, and to the experts, and value the research that exists,” she said. Funding The government’s promise of £165m for domestic abuse support service falls short of the £393m that is needed, said Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, adding that domestic abuse costs £66bn every year. “Specialist women’s domestic abuse services continue to face a funding crisis, with funding cuts and poor commissioning decisions failing to keep them secure,” she said. Evaw’s latest report argues that specialist sexual violence and abuse services need £102.7m annually. Education All the experts agreed education was key to addressing the issue of violence against women, and welcomed the introduction of mandatory sex and relationship education. “But we need to make sure the investment and training is there to help teachers so they feel confident delivering relationship and sex education,” said Dr Stephen Burrell, from the Durham University centre for research into violence and abuse. “We need more prioritisation of PHSE and more training across the board for teachers about gender inequality.” Pornography Dr Fiona Vera-Gray, an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Durham University, called on the government to properly address the issue of pornography in the proposed online harms bill, adding that research revealed that many porn sites regularly hosted content in contravention of the law as well as their own terms and conditions. “This is not about censorship, but it is about looking at how pornography shapes views about sex,” she said. “On mainstream porn sites we find a lot of representations of aggression, coercion and non-consensual sex – we see sex done to women, not women as active participants.” Consumers should report violent porn, while the government should ensure porn companies adhere to their own terms and conditions, she added.