December 2023

Hello and thank you for joining us on this 10^th day of the 16 Days of Action Against Gender Based Violence.

That’s not just something that we have made up locally here in Richmond, it’s an international campaign that runs every year from November 25^th - the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - to December 10^th - International Human Rights Day.

And it’s right that this issue should be being tackled and talked about on a national and international level, and not just once a month here on Twickenham Green.

This international campaign encourages awareness of - and action against - all forms of violence against women and girls including rape and sexual assault; domestic abuse; child sexual abuse; child sexual exploitation; sexual harassment; stalking; female genital mutilation; forced marriage; child marriage; sex trafficking; pornography; prostitution; and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.

And it’s important to take a moment to remember the extent of the VAWG that we talk about every month – Violence against women and girls – because it’s not just about the deaths of the women we highlight each month.

Sadly, we believe that it’s all of these other crimes that shape a society that results in the death of a women at the hands of a man every 3 days in the UK.

And 1.7 million UK women having suffered domestic abuse.

And 80% of all UK women having been sexually harassed in public spaces.

 

Obviously, we don’t have time to list the names of all of the victims of the different forms of VAWG, we focus on the headline murders.

But we do firmly believe that all of the other crimes are – if you will – feeder crimes for them. They give men the impression that they live in a society where there isn’t gender equality, where they are superior, and where women are victims.

 

So let’s take a moment to remember now the 10 women who have lost their lives at the hands of a man since we met here last month:

Caroline Gore, 44, was found dead at an address in Wigan. David Liptrot, 56, has been charged with murder.

Sian Hammond, 46, was found dead at a house in Cambridgeshire. Her husband, Robert Hammond, 47, has been charged with murder.

Christie Eugene, 64, was found with injuries at a home in Brixton. She later died in hospital. Her son, Jason Phinn, 35, has been charged with murder.

Perseverance Ncube, 35, known as Percy to her friends, was stabbed to death in front of her two children at an address in Salford. Obert Mayo, 45, has been charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon.

Victoria Greenwood was found dead in a car park in North Hertfordshire. She was last seen alive on 10 November 23. Robert Brown, 38, has been charged with murder.

Dawn Robertson, 62, was found unresponsive at a home in St Helens, Merseyside. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, Stuart Robertson, 68, has been charged with murder.

16 November 2023: Kiesha Donaghy, 32, was found dead at her home in Elgin, Moray. Owen Grant, 41, has been charged with murder.

19 November 2023: Salam Alshara, 27, was found seriously injured and died a short time later. The father of her four children, Wahib Albaradan, 35, is charged with murder.

Alison Bowen, 41, was found with significant injuries when police were called to reports of an assault in Kingswood, Bristol. She was pronounced dead a short time later. Darryl Bowen, 43, is charged with murder.

Taiwo Abodunde, 41, was pronounced dead at a house in Newmarket. Her husband, Olubunmi Abodunde, 47, has been charged with murder.

6 of those women were killed by their partner, husband or son – and there’s a good chance that some of the others will have known or been in a relationship with their killer, all but one were found at home.

So does that help you to understand why we believe that domestic abuse is a real and serious danger to women in the UK – and not just something that’s ok because it happens behind close doors? In the family home where the man of the house sets the rules?

The Met Police are currently drafting their new action plan for tackling VAWG. They acknowledge that across the UK the police receive a domestic abuse related call every 30 seconds – 120 every hour!!  And they are promising to do better in terms of handling and actioning those calls.

Please go online and search for the Met Police VAWG action plan and take your opportunity to read it and let them know whether or not you think it will work or does or doesn’t go far enough.

 nd please, please, please feel empowered to report anything that you suspect is domestic abuse amongst your friend and neighbours. We’re coming up to Christmas and the stats are very clear on the increases in instance over what should be a happy holiday period.

So, on that note, have a happy time over the holidays and we’ll look forward to seeing you back here in 2024 – on Monday January 8^th.   Thank you for your time this evening.