Remember Reeva Steenkamp, and the thousands of other women killed by men every year
(UK Blog)
The Independent
Karen Ingala Smith
Thursday 11 September 2014
Remember Reeva Steenkamp, and the thousands of other women killed by men every year
Two women a week are killed by a partner or former partner in England and Wales. We should be horrified by all the deaths of all women killed through male violence, regardless of who committed the crime
Fatal male violence against women is a worldwide problem, yet it is rarely headline news, like it is today. As we wait to find out whether Oscar Pistorius will be convicted of culpable homicide for shooting Reeva Steenkamp dead, I’m reminded of last week when news of the beheading of 82-year-old Palmira Silva was met with horror, yet very few people were aware that she was the third woman in London to have been beheaded in less than six months.
In South Africa, in 2009, 1024 women were killed through intimate partner violence, that’s one woman dead at the hands of her partner or former partner every 8 hours. You won’t hear about most of them. Yet last year Reeva Steenkamp’s death was news across the world within hours, because the man who killed her was an internationally famous athlete...
...The statistic that two women a week are killed by a partner or former partner in England and Wales is so well known that it rarely shocks. It should. Since January 2012, when eight women were killed through male violence in the first three days of the year alone - three shot, two stabbed, one strangled, one smothered and one beaten to death through 15 blunt force trauma injuries - I’ve been counting and naming the women in the UK killed through suspected male violence. This year, by September 4, at least 100 women had been killed. That’s one woman dead every 2.36 days. Few of their names are known outside their immediate circles.
There should not be a hierarchy of dead women. Male violence against women is an issue that should concern us all, and we must be more vocal in talking about it. Most women who are killed are killed by men. Most men who are killed are killed by men. Women make up around 32 per cent of murder victims in the UK but only six per cent of killers. Almost 94 per cent of murderers in the UK are men. We will never end male violence if we cannot name it.... MORE at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/remember-reeva-steenkamp-and-the-thousands-of-other-women-killed-by-men-every-year-9727469.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
I am so glad I got out.
I have no doubt my abuser was and may still be capable of murder.
A very thoughtful post. Thank you, theHandpuppet.
~ littlemissmartypants
Discussion can get very muddy when there are varying degrees of expertise and experience in any topic, especially when everybody seems to have a strong opinion, regardless of their expertise or experience. I usually stay away from my field(s?) of expertise as it is like reinventing the wheel. I understand that you do not have that luxury when it comes to women's issues. 