During the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence a number of organisations have been drawing attention to the issue of domestic homicide, and more broadly, femicide.
To mark the 25th November (the start of the 16 Days and also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) Counting Dead Women commemorated all the UK women killed by a man or where a male is the principal suspect. Meanwhile the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released a report looking at homicide globally, specifically gender-related killings of women and girls. You can access the report if you click here. The BBC took part as well, reporting on the gender-related killings of women as part of their '100 women' series.
A number of Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) have also been published since my last blog in October. These are the DHRs I am aware of being published since then:
Fenland Community Safety Partnership – Case of Irena
Isle of White Community Safety Partnership – Case of Mrs Lowe
Maldon Community Safety Partnership's Domestic Homicide Review – Case of Susan (actually published earlier this year, but there was quite a lot of media coverage relating to the DHR during November so I have included it here)
Norfolk Community Safety Partnership – Case of April
Safer Lincolnshire Partnership – Case of Clare and Charlotte Hart (many people will be aware of this DHR though the campaigning of Luke and Ryan Hart, who have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of domestic violence and abuse, particularly coercive control. You can find out more about their campaign if you follow this link).
A critical part of the learning from DHRs is bringing findings together. That's still an area where far more needs to be done. But things are changing. Looking internationally, the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative (CDHPI) published a report looking at trends in domestic homicides across Canada between 2010 and 2015. It’s focused on the unique needs of Indigenous, immigrant and refugee, rural, remote, and northern communities, and children exposed to domestic violence. You can access the report if you click here. Back in the UK, Dr Hannah Bows published some work on older people and domestic homicide. Importantly, her article draws attention to some of the issues for older people, particularly how the adult safeguarding and domestic abuse worlds don't always align. You can access the article if you follow this link.
That's all from me. As ever, if you are aware of any recently published DHRs, please do let me know.
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