For nine years in succession, Labour MP Jess Phillips has read a list of women killed by men in the past twelve months, criticising the lack of attention given to women's safety in Parliament. She expressed weariness with the lack of systemic change, and said the issue seems to matter much less than small boats. The emotional reading of 98 names lasted over five minutes. Phillips credited organisations like Femicide Census for documenting these tragedies and highlighted failures such as the nonexistence of women's safety units within police forces. Her remarks came days after a UN rapporteur urged the Government to do more, stating that the UK’s strategies for tackling violence against women were inadequate. Grim statistics underline the urgency of the issue: a woman is killed by a man in the UK every three days, and one in four women experiences domestic violence. Meanwhile, a damning report issued today has shown how the killer of Sarah Everard should never have been allowed to become a police officer: see
Jess Philips: ‘I am weary’
Written by David Fletcher 01 Mar 2024Additional Info
- Pray: that the Government will treat this issue as needing much more attention – and action. (Psalm 33:5)
- More: www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/29/i-am-weary-jess-phillips-reads-mps-list-of-women-killed-by-men-for-ninth-year