Murder, Domestic Abuse, Femicide, honour killings – the murder of women … the murder of women by men…….
In the UK a woman is killed by a man every three days.
The ultimate domestic abuse? : In recent years it was estimated that around two thirds of women murdered by men in the UK were killed by their current or former partner. A further approximately 12 per cent of those women murdered by men were killed by their sons.
The high profile case of the killing of Sarah Everard in March 2021 was used as a point in time to count the number of women murdered by men. In the year following Sarah’s murder there were at least 125 women killed by men in the UK. Sadly, there were women to count before this date, cases yet to be proven, and many women killed since.
Each March, since 2015, MP Jess Phillips has chosen IWD – International Women’s Day, to stand up in the House of Commons and read out the names of those women murdered by men since the previous IWD. These names are gathered with the help of Karen Ingala Smith who, in January 2012, began recording the deaths of women killed by men forming her blog: Counting Dead Women. The Counting Dead Women blog and Twitter account has since inspired the creation of The Femicide Census.
We can all follow high profile cases and the shocking statistics but must remember that each is an individual woman, a name – a loved one – a victim – a life stolen – a loss.
The great majority of the killers of women are men – a miniscule percentage of men are killers – we must not demonise men, but we must continue to make strides to educate all to respect women and to enable them to live their lives strong and free.
References and further reading:
Jess Phillips MP reads out the names of women killed by men in the UK
Blog by Christina Rollason