‘More must be done to protect women in danger’
CAMPAIGNER IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BLAST
A DOMESTIC abuse campaigner has criticised the lack of action to stop women being killed at the hands of men who have killed before or who have a history of a violence.
The Femicide Census has found that 149 women were murdered or killed in 2018, with more than half dying at the hands of their partner or ex-lover.
Huddersfield-born charity boss Karen Ingala Smith, founder of Count Dead Women and co-founder of the Femicide Census, said it was “galling to have to report such a catalogue of violence and abuse year after year” with lessons learned going “unheeded.”
The census reveals seven of the 149 victims in 2018 were from Yorkshire – four of them being from West Yorkshire.
They include:
Poppy Devey-Waterhouse, 25, from Leeds who was knifed by her boyfriend Joe Atkinson.
Diane Jones, 62, from Castleford, who was battered to death with a hammer by her son Wayne Beer.
Angela Conoby, 55, of Leeds, who was stabbed by her partner Peter Stalgis in the home they shared in Harehills.
Sheila Small, 73, from Bradford, who was beaten to death with a rolling pin by her husband Edward Small.
Other Yorkshire victims were Alena Grlakova, Jill Hibberd and Angela Rider.
The report highlights that more than half of cases were by a perpetrator with a track record of violence against women while almost two thirds were committed by a current or former husband or partner.
Most of the victims were stabbed or strangled and the majority of cases happened in the women’s own homes.
Overkilling – gratuitous violence beyond that necessary to end the victim’s life – was also found in more than half of the deaths.
Mrs Smith, who hails from Slaithwaite and now runs London-based
It is galling to report such a catalogue of violence and abuse year
after year
women’s rights charity The Nia Project, said: “There is a high degree of normalisation of men’s violence against women and no end of excuses or rationales assumed and extended to perpetrators, often without foundation.
“In 52% of femicides in 2018, there was evidence of some sort to suggest a previous history of violence and controlling behaviour, often from things victims had said to friends or families if not actually in reports to the police.
“In too many cases there was also evidence of history of violence towards other women, with three perpetrators having even previously killed another woman.
“Women are reaching out for help and many men are known to be dangerous to women, but we don’t seem to be turning this knowledge into ways to save women’s lives.
“It is important to honour the names and lives of the women killed but it is galling to have to report such a catalogue of violence and abuse year after year.
“Every year we make recommendations and every Domestic Homicide Review points out lessons to be learned – yet they seem to go unheeded.”
Mrs Smith said received wisdom that women could easily walk away from dangerous relationships needed to be challenged. She said four in 10 victims had already left their partner when they were killed.
She added: “For every woman killed there are thousands of women living in violent, controlling and abusive relationships.
“The closure and under-resourcing of specialist women-only services and refuges means that even where women may want to leave, they may struggle to find the help, support and safety they are entitled.”