Currently, there are at least two or three women per week who are killed by their ex-partners or current partners.
Official statistics, and separate figures from Women’s Aid, show around 80 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner in the latest year they cover.
“Currently, there are at least two to three women per week who are killed by their ex-partners or current partners.”
BBC Question Time audience member, 1 February 2018
The Femicide Census, developed by the charity Women’s Aid and Karen Ingala Smith, and the official statistics published by the Office for National Statistics both show almost 80 women and girls killed by a partner or ex-partner in the latest year they cover.
The Femicide Census covers women aged 14 and over killed by men in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2016. It’s compiled from public information such as freedom of information requests to police and press reports.
The ONS numbers cover offences against women aged 16 and over recorded by police in England and Wales only, and is updated with information from police and courts. An offence is counted in the year it was recorded, which may not be the same as the year the offence took place.
Just under half of all women killed were killed by their partners or ex-partners, according to the latest official statistics for England and Wales in 2015/16 (44%).
These numbers seem sadly stable over time. Between the start of 2009 and end of 2015, the Femicide Census found 598 women in England and Wales who were killed by men who were their current or former partners—an average of 85 women per year.
Separate figures for Scotland dealing with solved cases show 14 female homicide victims, of whom four were killed by a partner or ex-partner in 2016/17.
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Correction 16 July 2018
We previously said the Femicide Census was published by the charity Women’s Aid. We've clarified that it was developed in partnership with Karen Ingala Smith.
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