- Conference
- 2018 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 12 September 2017
- Decision
- Carried
The killing of a woman, especially in a domestic setting, is often reported as an ‘isolated incident with no further threat to the public’. Such descriptions dismiss the scale of the issue, and diminish the fact that gender-based violence is a society-wide issue.
This conference applauds the work of Karen Ingala-Smith (Chief Executive of Nia and author of Counting Dead Women blog site) and Women’s Aid in publishing their census findings. This report is a harrowing read, and lists the names of all the women in England and Wales who have lost their life between 2009 and 2015 due to femicide.
Femicide has been identified globally as a leading cause of premature death for women. It is the most extreme manifestation of men’s violence against women. Femicide is defined as “the misogynistic killing of women by men”
Some of the key findings within the report are that between January 1st 2009 and December 31st 2015:
• It is known that 936 women were killed by men in England and Wales.
• Most women who are killed are killed by a man known to them. 598 (64%) women were killed by men identified as current or former partners.
• Women are at significant risk at the point of separation from an abusive partner. 152 (76%) of women killed by their ex-partner or ex-spouse were killed within the first year that followed their separation.
• Women of any age can be victims of femicide. 149 women aged over 66 were killed in England and Wales. 50 of these women (34%) were killed by their partner or spouse. 34 of them (23%) were killed by their sons.
• The murder weapon most used in cases of femicide was a sharp instrument. A sharp instrument was used in 426 cases of femicide; 290 of those cases were domestic intimate-partner femicides.
• 218 (23.3%) cases of femicide were committed by men not related to their victims e.g. by a friend, colleague, client, co-worker, neighbour, stranger.
It is clear that the abuse of women occurs across society, through all classes, in all communities, across each religion, race, ethnicity and culture, and at all ages. The tactical and systematic abuse of a partner is part of a pattern that makes these deaths both predictable and preventable. While the number of intimate partner femicides is of huge concern, the volume is not surprising. The Office for National Statistics research and the Femicide Census prove, without question, that women are far more likely than men to be killed by their partners. Despite this clear statistic, refuges and domestic abuse service providers often have to justify the concentration of their efforts on women and girls.
The killing of 936 women by men over the course of seven years highlights the fact that femicide is a serious, prevailing issue in the England and Wales. The incidents of femicide are not isolated; there are significant similarities and patterns in these killings. These killings are rooted in the inequality and discrimination that women face in their everyday lives, inequalities that both cause and reinforce violence against women.
Helpfully, the report makes recommendations for action for government; Police; the criminal justice system; statutory agencies (NHS and social services); and the media.
In particular the recommendations to media are that they should
Challenge the use of ‘isolated incidents’ if used by the police or others in relation to femicide, and report men’s fatal violence against women within the broader context of Femicide.
In addition, the media are asked to not be overly sympathetic to perpetrators, privileging the perpetrator’s story. Women should not be written out of reports nor should women be defined one-dimensionally by their relationship to men/family. No more descriptions of perpetrators as the ““kind, honest, hardworking man who loved his family” reports that entirely omit any mention of the woman who has lost her life.
This conference categorically affirms its fundamental opposition to misogyny whenever and wherever it occurs.
This conference instructs the National Women’s Committee to:
1)Publicise this report across our UNISON membership to highlight the reality of femicide in England and Wales
2. Actively encourage our women members to write to the media whenever they see descriptions of perpetrators that minimise his crime and glorify him in other ways.
3. Reinvigorate the UNISON campaign to have a comprehensive domestic abuse policy negotiated and implemented with all recognised employers
4. Actively publicise the domestic abuse workshops and training courses UNISON delivers, to increase demand and participation numbers
5. Encourage Regional Women’s Groups and branch women’s groups to build links with local women’s refuges and develop template letters and advice on challenging media reports
6. To write to Karen Ingala-Smith and Women’s Aid to congratulate them on this piece of work