Census details how often men kill women

The latest Femicide Census published this week showed that in 2021, 147 women were killed by 144 men. Significantly more older women (66+) were killed by men over this 12-month period, and the proportion of sons killing their mothers also rose. Almost three quarters of women were killed in their home, or the home they shared with their partner. Why the time lag between killings and report? In order to report accurately on the criminal justice outcomes for the men arrested and charged with murder or manslaughter, the Femicide Census operates with an inbuilt delay. In this report, all bar two killings had either concluded the criminal justice process, or were excluded, for instance because the man had killed himself.

Who were the victims?

• Partners or ex partners: 78 women were killed by their partner or ex, or 53 per cent. This is slightly less than the overall average over the past 12 years (60 per cent).
• Mothers: 103 of the women killed had children under the age of 18 at the time of the femicide.
• Mothers killed by sons: 11 per cent in 2021, up from an 8.4 per cent twelve-year average.
• Older: 35 women aged 66 and over were victims of femicide, or 24 per cent. This is up on the 14 per cent nine-year average calculated between 2009 and 2018.
• Children: three victims killed alongside a woman were aged under 18.

Method. A sharp instrument was used to kill in 72 femicides (52 per cent). This has consistently been the most common method men use to kill women as reported by the Femicide Census. More than one method was used in some instances: strangulation was used in 36 cases, kicking, hitting and stamping a woman until she was dead was carried out in 25 killings, with blunt instrument assault, asphyxiation and arson among the other methods used.

There was evidence of “overkilling” – the use of excessive, gratuitous violence greater than required to cause death – in 94 deaths, or 64 per cent of all 2021 cases.

Jail time

• All murder convictions result in a life sentence. Minimum jail terms imposed for single murder convictions ranged from 11 years to one whole life term (in the case of Wayne Couzens who murdered Sarah Everard), and between 4.5 to 16 years for manslaughter convictions.
• For double or multiple murders, minimum terms started at 27 years. One man who killed two women he met as a sex-buyer on an escorting site was given two 49 year sentences to be served concurrently. The body of the first woman he murdered has never been found.
• One man was given a whole life term for murdering his partner, her two children and her daughter’s best friend. He also raped her daughter, who was 11 years old. Known to the authorities as a sexual predator and serial domestic abuser, the probation services had been warned of his risk to girls in local authority care. Despite this, he was categorised as low risk of harm to partners and children and was curfewed to the victims’ address, where he killed them.

Justice delayed. The family of one woman killed in 2021 does not yet have a criminal justice outcome. The trial of Colin Kennedy, charged with murdering his partner Catherine Stewart, 54 was adjourned in October and is scheduled to start again this month. Today is the third anniversary of her death.