Tip of the iceberg: Spate of high-profile violent crimes against women are ‘reminder’ of bigger problem

‘We must be constantly aware of the need to do more and not just look at legislation to solve problems,’ Caroline Nokes tells The Independent

The recent wave of high-profile crimes against women is a stark reminder of the hidden victims who are subjected to male violence “every day”, campaigners and politicians have warned.

From the crimes committed by former Metropolitan police officer David Carrick to the murder of a headteacher in Epsom, a spate of stories about women being beaten, abused, humiliated, raped or killed - usually at the hands of men - have dominated the news cycle in recent months.

Women’s groups have warned that these stories are just the “tip of the iceberg”. Tory MP Caroline Nokes, who is chair of the women and equalities committee, told The Independent that, while these “horrific” stories are making the headlines, the majority of abuse “goes unreported”.

“It serves as a useful reminder to us that there is a spectrum of offending. The most horrendous stories make the headlines, but that doesn’t mean women aren’t suffering every single day,” she said.

Earlier this month, the head of Epsom College Emma Pattison was found dead alongside her husband and their seven-year-old daughter at the £42,000 per year elite private school. Police are investigating the deaths but believe the 39-year-old husband George Pattison killed his wife and their daughter before going on to shoot himself.

Carrick was sentenced last week to a minimum of 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to 49 charges compromising 85 offences including multiple rapes. The shocking list of crimes make him one of the worst sexual offenders in modern history.

Former Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens this week admitted three counts of indecent exposure, which took place in the months before he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

In another horrific case, Andrew Innes was found guilty of luring Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter up to Dundee where he killed them both and buried their bodies.

Meanwhile, two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old trans girl, was stabbed to death in a park in Warrington.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week show the number of women killed in England and Wales surged by a quarter in the wake of the Covid crisis, with a homicide taking place every two days. The figures show 198 women were killed in the year leading up to the end of March 2022. Of the cases where someone had been charged, some 95 per cent of the suspects were men.

Meanwhile, between two and three women are murdered each week by their partners or ex-partners in England and Wales. One in four women will suffer domestic abuse at some point during their lives.

“The underlying horror of the number of men killing their partners or former partners shows we must be constantly aware of the need to do more,” Ms Nokes, who represents Romsey and Southampton North, said.

She hailed the Domestic Abuse Act, which became law in spring 2021, as a “great step forward” but warned that violence against women is an issue that cannot be solely tackled by changing the law.

“We need to make sure police services and police and crime commissioners are making violence against women and girls a priority. Some are. Some aren’t. There isn’t a coherent national plan,” she said.

Anthea Sully, chief executive of White Ribbon UK, which engages men and boys to end violence against women, said the current news stories about male violence against women are just “the tip of the iceberg of the reality of harmful behaviour and attitudes that women and girls face daily”.

“The only root cause is harmful dominant masculine norms that we must address as a society and as individuals to ensure that women can live their lives free from the fear of violence,” she said.

“This is done by investing in primary prevention education for all - in our schools for young boys to understand gender equality as a norm, and within our workplaces.”

Ruth Davison, chief executive of Refuge, England’s largest provider of shelters for domestic abuse victims, added: “We must remember each and every woman whose lives are taken in this way. Male violence is not isolated, it’s a societal issue, rooted in misogyny and it must be recognised as such.”