This article contains references to domestic abuse, sexual violence, and suicide.
Amber Gibson was 16 years old when she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her brother, Connor Gibson. When Stephen Corrigan (45) discovered her body, he intimately touched and concealed her – instead of calling the police. Five months before she was murdered, Amber was raped by Jamie Starrs (20) at his home in Lanarkshire.
Amber’s life was destroyed by male violence, and even in death, she wasn’t protected from it.
When confronted with such distressing news, we must pay attention. We must recognise the pattern. We must act.
Here, we revisit Dr Charlotte Proudman’s opinion piece for GLAMOUR about why male violence against women should be considered a national emergency.
As we approach August, there have already been multiple reports of devastating incidents of male violence against women and children in 2023. A man is suspected of shooting his wife and daughter, a Met police officer was found guilty of being one of the UK’s most dangerous sex offenders in modern history, and reports have emerged that Terri Harris and Zara Aleena were murdered after numerous probation failings.
When news emerged on Monday, 6th February, that Emma Pattison, headteacher of a private school, Epsom College, had been found dead along with her husband, George Pattison, and seven-year-old daughter, Lettie, in a property on school grounds, the police immediately said it was an “isolated incident.”
No one dared say what we were all thinking: another man has murdered his wife and child. But on Tuesday, 7th February, reports pointed to the possibility that George Pattison had killed Emma and Lettie – before killing himself.
You may have noticed in the news that a lot of women are killed by men in “isolated incidents.” In November 2022, Lorraine Mills, a “loving mother, sister and grandmother”, was found dead in her home after being murdered by Richard Shaw in an “isolated incident.”
“Until we acknowledge that violence is gendered, we will continue to see the names and faces of women killed by men.”
The numbers are staggering, with the Office for National Statistics reporting that in the year ending March 2021, 694 women were victims of homicide in England and Wales, 89% of whom were killed by men. The majority of these crimes were committed by partners or ex-partners, illustrating the enduring issue of domestic violence in the UK.
Media coverage of men who kill women often focuses on the personal circumstances of perpetrators, including their mental health or the struggles they faced at work or as a child. Happy family photographs are highlighted in the media to induce sympathy – or humanise perpetrators.
Despite the prevalence of these killings, the police continue to label the killing of women by men as “isolated incidents.” It is not isolated – it’s an epidemic where three women are killed by men each week on average. This widespread abuse of women is a sobering reminder that violence against women is not and never has been an isolated incident but a widespread and persistent issue that demands immediate action.
The minimisation of male violence against women in the UK extends to not only the killing of women but also sexual assault, domestic abuse, and rape. In the year ending March 2022, the highest-ever number of recorded rapes was 70,330, yet only 2,223 cases led to charges being brought. In addition, 1 in 4 women has been raped or sexually assaulted as an adult and 1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner. Those figures are anything but “isolated”. Women are experiencing violence again men in the home, in the streets, in their workplaces, and online. Women are not safe in society.