At least 350 women killed by men since murder of Sarah Everard

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At least 350 women have been killed by a person since the murder of Sarah Everard – the equal of one lady dying each three days, The Independent can reveal.

Frustrated consultants mentioned the federal government remains to be failing to defend women because the sobering new figures got here to gentle on the third anniversary of Ms Everard’s kidnap and murder by a serving police officer.

Her dying was hailed as a watershed second which sparked an outpouring of anger over women’s security and shone a lightweight on the epidemic of violence towards women and women.

But campaigners have mentioned guarantees to sort out the disaster had been “empty words” as they warned: “So much more needs to be done.”

The figures, shared with The Independent by the Femicide Census, confirmed at least 350 women have died with a person accountable or a principal suspect since Ms Everard’s dying on 3 March 2021.

“That’s an average of one woman dead at the hands of a man every three days,” govt director Dr Karen Ingala Smith mentioned.

Of these, eight in 10 had a relationship with their killer, with 43 per cent killed by a former or present associate, 12 per cent by a member of the family, 15 per cent by a person who knew them.

She added: “The figure of eight per cent of women killed by men in the UK being killed by a stranger is consistent with the average since our records began in 2009. So ask me whether anything has changed since Sarah’s murder, and my answer is no.”

The figures come after an inquiry into Ms Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens uncovered an astonishing string of blunders within the recruitment of the predator to the Metropolitan Police and eight missed alternatives to cease him in his tracks.

Ms Everard, a 33-year-old advertising and marketing govt, was strolling residence in Clapham, south London, when she was tricked by Couzens, who falsely arrested her earlier than driving to Kent the place he raped and strangled and dumped her burnt physique in woodland.

In the aftermath of her dying, hundreds of grieving women gathered for a vigil at Clapham Common calling for motion to forestall to male violence towards women and, merely, the fitting to stroll residence safely.

Anna Birley, co-founder of vigil organisers Reclaim These Streets, informed The Independent: “We were promised that tackling violence against women and girls would be a priority for this government, but these figures show that this was all empty words.

“Women are still being murdered by men, demand for domestic violence services remains at record highs and rapes are still going unprosecuted.

“By failing to grasp the scale of the problem and failing to take meaningful action to keep us safe, this government is failing women.”

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), mentioned every of the 350 women who’ve misplaced their lives within the final three years have been failed by society.

“While we’ve heard lots of promises and seen top-level commitments to tackling violence against women in the last three years, there is so much more that needs to be done,” she informed The Independent.

“There is a failure to prioritise preventing violence in all the work promised to tackle it. We need to see the police response to all forms of abuse improve, with better detection, early intervention, and protective steps taken when women report violence to reduce the risk of femicide.

“Police and justice agencies must take action to stop known perpetrators from frequently reoffending against women and girls.

“We must also see work to shift attitudes across society, including the sexism and male entitlement that drives violence against women and sees it normalised and trivialised.”

This begins with high-quality training and well-funded public data campaigns, she mentioned, including: “Until we tackle harmful attitudes and the inequality that puts women and girls in harm’s way, we won’t be able to improve women’s feelings of safety and freedom.”

The calls come after this week Labour MP Jess Phillips learn out within the House of Commons the names of each lady killed final 12 months, warning the “epidemic of violence against women and girls has not abated”.

She mentioned: “All of these women mattered, they need to matter much more to politics. And I urge again, as I have for years, for the government to have a strategy for reducing femicide. Warm words and no political priority will never make this list shorter.”

It is the ninth 12 months that the MP has learn victims’ names to the chamber, including every life misplaced was a testomony to failure to prioritise women’s security.

She added: “I am tired that women’s safety matters so much less in this place than small boats. I am tired of fighting for systematic change and being given table scraps.

“Never again do I want to hear a politician say that lessons will be learned from abject failure. It is not true.

“This list is no longer just a testament to these women’s lives, it is a testament to our collective failure.”

Jhiselle Feanny, co-founder of Killed Women, a marketing campaign group of households bereaved by male violence towards women, described the newest figures as “devastating”.

She mentioned: “Each represents a life brutally taken. And a family facing the unimaginable, their whole world destroyed. Three years, so many lives, endless announcements, headlines, reviews, reports and lessons learned. And yet here we are, listening to the latest death toll read out in Parliament.”

She mentioned assaults on women had been “preventable crimes” after a survey of bereaved households final 12 months discovered nearly seven in 10 believed their loved-one’s dying was preventable, whereas two-thirds mentioned the killer had a previous historical past of violence.

“These deaths and injustices are not inevitable. The murders of women are not unavoidable tragedies, but preventable crimes,” Ms Feanny added.

“We urgently need decision- and policy-makers to act, so women can live free from fear, threat and violence.”

A authorities spokesperson mentioned: “We are committed to tackling violence against women and improving the police response to these vile crimes. We have classified it as national threat alongside other threats such as terrorism and introduced the first-ever dedicated national policing lead.

“The Angiolini inquiry has looked into issues around police culture and the government will continue to work with police partners to ensure that proper standards are upheld at all times.”