A year ago, Sarah Everard was murdered. Sarah, a 33-year-old marketing executive, went missing in Clapham, South London, after visiting a friend.
She was raped and killed by police officer Wayne Couzens, who will die behind bars after being handed a whole-life prison sentence by the courts in September. The Metropolitan Police firearms officer used his warrant card and handcuffs to snatch her off the street, using covid lockdown rules to make a false arrest.
There was also the case of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, whose body was discovered in a park in south-east London and a man has since pleaded guilty to her murder. These horrific cases have meant male violence towards women has been at the forefront of many people's minds in recent months.
Read more: Dangerous men women in Bristol need to know about
Lisa Benjamin, Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (SARSAS) training and communications manager, shared some thoughts on the one-year anniversary of Sarah's murder. She said: "A year on from the tragic murder of Sarah Everard the conviction rates for sexual offences remain low whilst reports have hit record highs, the need for our support continues to increase every month, and more women have been killed by men than in the year before.
"It is good that we are having more conversations about these issues but focusing on increased safety measures in public spaces is not enough.”
According to the World Economic Forum, six women are killed every hour by men around the world, most by men in their own family or their partners. In the UK alone, a man killed a woman every three days; a woman was killed by a male partner or ex-partner every four days, according to the latest Femicide Census.
Read more: The Bristol women who died at the hands of violent men
The Census found that a total of 30 women were killed by men in the Avon and Somerset Police force area between 2009 and 2018. In those years, at least 1,425 women were killed by men in the UK, states the Census.
In 2020, we interviewed the superintendent in charge of domestic violence for Avon and Somerset Police, where he talked about the devastating impact domestic violence has on victims and families, and you can read that interview here.
Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire has also called on men to take action to tackle violence against women. Avon and Somerset Police has previously said that, in 2020, the force recorded 11 homicides, of which three of the victims were women and that, in 2019, it recorded seven homicides, of which all of the victims were men.
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