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International Women’s Day 2016: Labour MP Jess Phillips reads out names of 120 women killed by men over the last year

'We must not let them die in vain. We owe them much more than what they got'

Alexandra Sims
Tuesday 08 March 2016 18:20 GMT
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Jess Phillips lists names of women killed by men for International Women's Day

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Labour MP Jess Phillips stunned parliament into silence as she read out the names of every woman who has been killed by a man in the last year.

Ms Phillips read out the list of women, aged between 13 and 81, during a three hour Commons debate marking International Women’s Day, receiving applause from the benches.

The list includes women and girls aged 13 and above who were killed in the last 12 months.

The women were involved in cases where a man has been tried and found guilty or charged, or where a man is considered to be the primary suspect by police.

Ms Phillips told the Commons: “In 2015 a women was murdered in the UK every three days. Women murdered by men that they should have been able to trust.

“Commonly, women are murdered by their partners, husbands and boyfriends, but also in some cases by their fathers, their sons, their brothers.

"We wish to give voice to honour the women who died. Today I stand to honour every victim and the fight to end violence against women."

“These were not all poor women,” said Ms Phillips. “These were women of every age. They were teachers, dinner ladies, doctors, dancers and daughters.”

“Their perpetrators were not feckless drunks, they were respected fathers, City bankers, eminent lawyers”.

“Violence against women has no one face. We must do better. These women are gone.

“Here in this place, we must not let them die in vain. We owe that much to them. We owe them much more than what they got."

International Women’s Day has marked the plight and achievements of women for more than a century and this year the United Nations-backed event will be celebrating women's rights in more than 40 countries.

This year the theme is "Planet 50-50 by 2030", looking at how to ensure the 2030 Agenda - which positions women's empowerment as at the centre of global sustainability plans - can be concretely achieved over the coming years.

Here are the names of the women who have died since International Women's Day 2015:

Lucy Ayris, 25

Alison Wilson, 36

Janet Muller, 21

Melissa Liddle,23

Sarah Pollock, 41

Jill Goldsmith, 49

Zaneta Balazova, 23

Cecilia Powell, 95

Marian Smith, 74

Violet Price, 80

Karen Buckley, 24

Susan Davenport, 63

Sandra Thomas, 57

Sarah Fox, 27

Bernadette Fox, 57

Aileen Bell, 60

Frances Cleary-Senior, 49

Tracey Woodford, 47

Mariola Cudworth, 36

Anna Rosenberg, 43

Wendy Milligan, 46

Gloria Perring, 76

Mahala Rhodes,42

Marta Ligman, 23

Emma Crowhurst, 36

Joanna Doman, 55

Shiggi Rethishkumar, 35

Neya Rethishkumar, 13

Niya Rethishkumar, 13

Grace Kissell, 33

Jan Jordon, 48

Ramute Butkiene, 42

Anne Dunkley, 67

Phyllis Hayes, 65

Nazia Akhtar, 31

Nadia Khan, 24

Jennifer Edwards, 45

Stacey Henderson, 35

Rita Stephens, 67

Jennifer Williams, 25

Amy Smith, 17

Anita Kapoor, 34

Linda Norcup, 46

Lisa Anthony, 47

Ava Anthony, 14

Lorraine Barwell, 54

Laura Davies, 21

Tracey Baker, 42

Florisse Corette, 81

Isobel (known as Becky) Parker, 23

Gillian Phillips, 54

Amal Abdi, 21

Jenny Foote, 38

Miriam Nyazema, 35

Denisa Silman, 25

Jennifer Dornan, 30

Jan Bennett, 67

Laura Holden, 36

Elife Beqa, 34

Katelyn Parker, 24

Elizabeth Nnyanzi, 31

Wendy Mann, 26

Lauren Masters, 20

Samantha Ho, 39

Natalia Strelchenko, 38

Julie Collier, 55

Karen Reid, 53

Petra Atkinson, 42

Anne Marrie Cropper, 47

Nicola Cross, 37

Shelley Saxton-Cooper, 45

Sarrah Garba, 27

Jourdain John-Baptiste, 22

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