18th February 2015
This content originally appeared on Diana Barran's blog in February 2015 and reflected her views at the time. Caada is the previous name of SafeLives.
Last month I noted the evidence from some recent DHRs which showed the high percentage of women murdered by their partners who were still in a relationship. This was reconfirmed by the evidence from the Femicide Census published last week which reflects the tireless work of Karen Ingala Smith on this subject.
In the Femicide Census data, which spans almost 700 murders from 2009-2013, 58% of women were still in a relationship with the person who killed them. Over half had been in the relationship for over 5 years.
So this is where the gap lies – services for women who can’t or don’t leave for whatever reason and for older women. Our data across all types of practitioners- not just IDVAs – shows that about 80% of clients who engage are separated or separating.
Where is the exception to this? IDVAs working in hospitals where half their clients are still in the relationship.
So location matters. And so do the choices we offer women to ‘stay’ safely.
