A UN study published to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Women has revealed that home may be the most dangerous place to be a woman. The study found that, while most victims of intended homicide are men, the vast majority (82 pre cent) of victims of intimate partner homicide are women. Six women are killed by a person known to them every hour—or 137 women a day.
Here in the UK, the Counting Dead Women project keeps a tally of women and girls killed by men (or where a man is the primary suspect). On Sunday, the Twitter account listed every woman and girl killed since 25 November 2017: a total of 146 women, or one woman killed every 2.5 days. The vast majority were killed by an intimate partner or near relative—the number of women killed by their sons is especially notable.
No surprise
For feminists campaigning on male violence against women and girls, a report revealing the dangers of home comes as little surprise. Whether fatal or not, research across the board has shown that women are more likely to be physically or sexually assaulted by men known to her.It’s believed around 90 per cent of rape survivors know the perpetrator before the assault, and an average of two women in England and Wales are killed every week by a current or former partner.
However, the statistics will have come as a shock to some—in part because of the ways we talk about and minimise male violence against women and girls. Male violence is still seen as the isolated incident; the stranger in the dark alleyway. While this, of course, does happen, the day-to-day nature of domestic abuse that all too often leads to a woman’s death remains hidden. We still hear police investigations refer to a man killing or threatening his wife as a “domestic incident” or an “isolated incident”—even if the murder is a result of months or years of beatings, control and intimidation.
That the majority of this abuse happens behind closed doors makes it easier to minimise or excuse the violence of men who kill women. Earlier this year, a former-UKIP counsellor who killed his wife was described as a “fundamentally decent man” and it’s common for abusive men to be described as “perfect husband” and “loving dads.” Men who kill their wives are defended as publicly decent and loving, ignoring what can be years of terrorism and brutality in the home.
Are women’s lives the price of austerity?
Here in the UK, the government has failed to protect women from the danger in the home, and designed policies that actively make it harder for domestic abuse victims to reach safety.Austerity measures introduced by the Coalition government and continued under the May administration have led to 1 in 6 women’s refuges closing its doors. Specialist services which support BAME women or women from minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by ideologically-driven cuts.
Refuges which provide a safe haven for women and children fleeing domestic abuse are proven to work—providing expert care and helping women rebuild their lives. Without this safety net, women are trapped in violent homes where their lives and health are at risk.
At the same time, the government’s flagship benefits reform, Universal Credit, has been accused of “facilitating abuse” through its “family first” design. The benefit is paid to a single bank account, giving violent men greater power to financially abuse their partner. In the past, income such as child benefit was paid to the primary caregiver (usually the mother), providing some financial independence and making it slightly easier to leave a violent household.
Cuts across the welfare state mean women fleeing domestic abuse also struggle to get appropriate housing. There have been reports of local authorities asking women to contact their abusers to “prove” that domestic violence has made them “unintentionally homeless.”
Women are housed in mixed hostels, without the expert support and services they need to recover from abuse. And cuts to legal aid have led to a brain drain of specialist domestic violence solicitors, making it harder for women to get the help they need to fight their cases in court.
Numbers but no action?
The UN report has given us numbers. Now we need to see change. When she became Home Secretary, Theresa May famously told the Women’s Aid 2010 conference we need “actions not words” on domestic abuse. Well, we have seen a lot of action that has harmed women’s equality and made dangerous homes harder to escape.Of course, the perpetrator of domestic abuse is ultimately responsible for his violence. But this doesn’t excuse designing policy which ultimately facilitates that violence—policies that need to reversed if we are to make the home a safe place to be a woman.
