January 2022

 

Hello and thank you all for coming to join us this evening.

This is our 5th vigil here and I spoke at the first one back in September.

I apologise to anyone who was here then for repeating some of the words I used then, but sadly very, very little has changed and so I am having to repeat myself.

As it’s the New Year I’m going to start with a rather gruesome review of last year – with permission from Karen Ingala-Smith. She and her team collate information about UK women who have been killed by men (or where men are the principal suspect in an ongoing enquiry) for the blog “Counting Dead Women”.

Last year, 2021, they counted a total of 139 women killed.

Through the year we were quoting an average of 3 a week – but that was an exaggeration, it’s only 2.67 for the pedants…

But it’s more than one every 3 days!

Every 3rd day in 2021 a woman was killed by a man…

That is just unacceptable.

When Sarah Everard was murdered back at the beginning of March we were hopeful that the ensuing media coverage meant that at last this social epidemic would be covered by the press and tackled by the politicians every day – not just when there were headlines to be made and votes to be won.

But as I said earlier, very, very little has changed.

And let us not forget that these women are not just statistics – each is a tragedy on a very personal level.

The oldest was 93 and 6 were teenagers.

At least 32 were murdered by their husband, partner or boyfriend – someone they should have been able to love and trust.

11 of these women were killed by their sons – for some reason that leaves me speechless.

And I also have no words for the 3 grandsons who killed their grandmothers.

Please join me in taking a minute to give our thoughts to those 139+ women, and their children, and their partners and their parents and their siblings and their friends.

  

WE would like to ask you all to help us raise awareness around this issue in whatever way you can.

 

Follow Richmond WEP on Twitter and Facebook. Re-tweet us and re-post our posts.

 

Similarly follow Karen and Counting Dead Women. Re-tweet and re-post.

 

Write to your local MP and local councillor.

 

Vote for the Women’s Equality Party candidates in the Council elections in May.

Be outraged and angry – ask if more would happen to tackle this issue if a man was being killed by a woman every 3 days. And when the answer is yes, ask why…

Come and talk to us if you would like any more information.

 Please travel home safely. And please join us again next month on Monday February 7th.

 

 

 

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