Labor MP Jess Phillips today called for action against male violence by listing women suspected of having been killed by men in the past year.
In an emotional speech to the House of Commons, Birmingham MP Yardley insisted that “warm words are no longer enough”.
It has become a tradition for Ms Phillips to read the names of women murdered in the UK in the last 12 months during the annual International Women’s Day debate in the House of Commons.
This afternoon, he listed 108 women killed in which a man has been convicted or charged as the main perpetrator of their murder. This included the names of Zara Aleena, Elle Edwards, and Ashley Dale.
Phillips said the grieving families of those killed, as well as the activists who compile the annual list, wanted to “make it clear that lessons are not being learned.”
“Warm words are no longer enough,” he added. “We honor these women by not reading their names, by not making any of the promises that happen in this place, we honor them with deeds, not words.”
It has become a tradition for Labor MP Jess Phillips to read out the names of women murdered in the last 12 months during the annual International Women’s Day debate in the House of Commons.
Ms Phillips told MPs it was the “honour of my life” to read the list of women murdered in the House of Commons each year.
She thanked the “hard work” of those who compile the annual list – the Counting Dead Women and Femicide Census projects founded by Karen Ingala Smith – and who “fight every day to make murdered women a matter of great public concern.”
Paying tribute to her work, Ms Phillips said: “The first year I read the list of women who had been murdered by men, not one of the women’s names elicited a moment of recognition for anyone other than their loved ones in duel”.
“This year there will be names on this list that we have all heard of: women who, after their brutal murders, have become household names.”
Among the names he read were Zara Aleena, a 35-year-old aspiring solicitor from Ilford, east London, who was sexually assaulted and murdered by a recently released criminal in June last year.
Elle Edwards, a 26-year-old beautician, was shot outside a pub in Wallasey, Wirral, on Christmas Eve. Three people have been arrested in connection with her murder.
Ashley Dale, a 28-year-old council worker, was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, on August 21 last year.
The youngest on the list was Holly Newton, 15, from Northumberland, and the oldest, Anne Woodbridge, 92, from Weston-super-Mare.
Ashley Dale, a 28-year-old council worker, was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, on August 21 last year.
Elle Edwards (left), a 26-year-old beautician, was shot outside a pub on Christmas Eve. Zara Aleena, a 35-year-old aspiring lawyer, was sexually assaulted and murdered in June of last year.
Despite more than 100 names on the list, Ms Phillips warned that many more deaths go unrecorded and others suffer “terrible violence and domestic abuse”.
“I have read hundreds of investigative reports and reviews of domestic homicides over the years,” he added.
‘Everyone is pushing for lessons to be learned, telling us that next time will be different. never is
“Just this week I have spoken to a woman whose perpetrator showed up at her home while she was out on bail for attempting to attack her with a weapon. A call to the police left her waiting seven days for a response.
‘Femicide is currently not mentioned in the domestic abuse strategy. This is not OK.
“I urge the government to hurry up and release the long overdue sentencing review in domestic homicides.
‘There is no reason why we are still waiting. All of these women died in the time promised to us for this review.