Names of women murdered by men in last year read out in parliament

‘This is unfortunately not a number that goes down, but is in fact a number that is going up,’ says Jess Phillips

The names of more than 100 women murdered by men in the last year have been read aloud in parliament as MPs listened on in silence.

Jess Phillips, a Labour MP, said the high levels of violence against women should trigger the “same level of horror” as other issues.

Ms Phillips, who spent more than four minutes reading out the names of women murdered since last year's International Woman's Day, argued a far more significant response was needed to tackle the "epidemic of male violence against women".

The politician, who recently dropped out of the Labour leadership race, said: “I rise like I rise every year to read the names of the women who have been murdered by men since this time last year.

“I am afraid that the statistics released recently show this is unfortunately not a number that goes down, but is in fact a number that is going up.”

She added: “I cannot help but reflect that had these women all been murdered in terrorist incidents, had these women all died of coronavirus, had these women all died at sports events around the year, there would be huge enquiry, the government would stop at nothing had these all been terrorist deaths to enact - and not just this government, any government - policy quickly, effectively.

“Cobra meetings would be held if this many people had died of coronavirus even in that space of time.”

The comments come after a chilling report released last month found more than half of the female victims of killings in 2018 were attacked by men with a history of violence towards women.

The latest Femicide Census revealed 149 women were killed by 147 men in the UK in 2018 – with almost two thirds of the victims killed by their current or ex-partner.

Frontline service providers raised concerns about the figures and argued government cuts to domestic abuse services are putting women’s lives at risk.

The annual study, which started in 2009, tracks the numbers of women killed by men to show the killings are not isolated incidents.

Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of Nia, the charity behind the census which delivers services for women and children who have experienced male violence, 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.”