Credit: Getty
Labour MP Jess Phillips has named the 111 women recorded as having died as a result of domestic abuse. Here’s why it’s so important that she continues to do this every year until it ends.
In 2016, newly-elected MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips, stood up in the Commons to read out the names of the 120 women killed by domestic violence in the UK over the previous year. “Today, I stand to honour every victim in the fight to end violence against women,” Phillips told fellow MPs, who fell silent while she spoke the names of murdered women out loud.
Since then, the stats and news around domestic violence only continue to show that things aren’t improving. It was only last month when figures from the Office of National Statistics reported that the number of female murder victims has risen by 10% – the highest level since 2006. And further research showed that over half of women killed by men in the UK are murdered by a partner or an ex. The Domestic Violence Bill has been reintroduced to parliament, after prime minster Boris Johnson delayed the bill because of last year’s prorogation. But there is still such a long way to go.
That’s why Phillips returned to the Commons on the week of International Women’s Day to read out the names of women killed by domestic abuse in 2019. “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,” she said. “I am afraid to say that 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 also noted one woman lived on a street next to where she lives, explaining: “I saw the sirens and heard the roar, and knew I would have to read out her name.”
Here are the names of the 111 women who were killed by domestic violence in 2019, provided by The Femicide Census.
Charlotte Huggins
Jay Edmunds
Simbiso Aretha Moula
Sarah Ashraf
Asma Begum
Luz Margory Isaza Villegas
Leanne Unsworth
Christy Walshe
Alison Hunt
Mary Annie Sowerby
Margaret Smyth
Mary Page
Libby Squire
Antoinette Donnegan,
Rosie Derbyshire
Aliny Mendes
Sarah Henshaw
Dorothy Bowyer
A 73-year old woman who has not yet been named died 11 days after being mugged in Birmingham.
Jodi Miller
Jodie Chesney
Elize Stevens
Laureline Garcia-Bertaux
Giselle Marimon-Herrera, 37 and her 15-year-old daughter Allison Marimon-Herrera
Lalal Kamara
Alice Morrow
Rachel Evans
Alison McKenzie
Janette Dunbavand
Barbara Heywood
Paula Meadows
Anna Reed
Sarah Fuller
Megan Newton
Leah Fray
Siama Riaz
Sammy-Lee Lodwig
Amy Parsons
Emma Faulds
Lauren Griffiths
Ellie Gould
Joanne Hamer
Mavis Long
Julia Rawson
Tatiana Koudriavtsev
Jayde Hall
Elizabeth McShane
Linda Treeby
Regan Tierney
Paige Gibson
Neomi Smith
Safie Xheta
Lucy Rushton
Kelly Fauvrelle
Joanna Thompson
Ligita Kostiajeviene
Lesley Pearson
Carol Milne
Layla Arezo
Doreen Virgo
Diane Dyer
Kayleigh Hanks
Kelly-Anne Case
Dorothy Woolmer
Dr Leela (Premm) Monti
Natalie Critchlow
Lindsey Birbeck
Belinda Rose
Pamela Mellor
Linda Vilika
Michelle Pearson
Rebecca Simpson
Alice Farquharson
Laura Rakstelyte
Sandra Samuels
Marlene McCabe
Lana Nemceva
Bethany Fields
Serafima Mashaka
Vera Hudson
Keely Bunker
Christina Ortiz-Lozano
Emily Goodman
Margaret Robertson
Arlene Williams
Sarah Hassall
Suvekshya Burathoki
Niyat Berhane Teklemariam
Lesley Spearing
Zoe Orton
Beatrice Yankson
Levi Ogden
Tsegereda Gebremariam
Nicola Stevenson
Mandeep Singh
Alison McBlaine
Katy Sprague
Saskia Jones
Lindsay de Feliz
Marion Price
Jolanta Jacubowska
Kayleigh Dunning
Nelly Myers
Angela Tarver
Amy Appleton
Sandra Seagrove
Frances Murray
Vivienne Bryan
Stacey Murray
If you are worried about your relationship or that of a friend or family member, you can contact the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge, on 0808 2000 247 or visit www.womensaid.org.uk.
Images: Getty
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