MPs fall silent as Jess Phillips lists the names of women killed by men in the last 12 months Nearly one in five women killed by men in the UK over the past year are suspected to have been murdered by their own sons, according to new data presented in Parliament. The stark figures emerged as Labour MP Jess Phillips read out the names of 108 women killed in the past 12 months during the annual International Women’s Day debate in the UK Parliament. Among them were 19 mothers whose sons are suspected of their deaths — the highest number recorded in more than 16 years of tracking by the Femicide Census project. A grim roll call in Parliament Phillips’ reading of the names has become a yearly ritual intended to force lawmakers to confront the scale of violence against women. It again required special permission to exceed the normal speaking time for MPs. Addressing the chamber, she warned that women and girls are facing abuse and violence “in every part” of the country. “The scale of violence against women and girls shames our society,” she said. Matricide emerges as a growing threat Researchers behind the Counting Dead Women initiative say the rising number of mothers killed by their sons is deeply alarming. Co-founder Clarrie O’Callaghan said many of the perpetrators had histories of violence or abuse in previous relationships before moving back into family homes. Mental illness, substance misuse and housing instability are frequently cited factors. Yet she warned that older women are rarely recognised as being at risk of fatal violence from their own children. Warnings ignored for years Analysis by the Femicide Census previously found that more than 170 mothers were killed by their sons between 2009 and 2021. Despite years of warnings, campaigners say no national strategy has directly addressed the risk of matricide. “There are few dedicated services for older women in the UK,” O’Callaghan said, warning the problem remains largely invisible to policymakers. Government promises action — critics demand more The Home Office has pledged new oversight of recommendations from domestic homicide reviews, which examine killings within family or domestic settings. But campaigners argue the government’s wider Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy lacks sufficient funding to meet its goal of halving such violence within a decade. For Phillips, the annual reading of the names is a reminder that the stakes are measured in lives already lost — and those still at risk. Sons were suspects in nearly one in five cases of women killed by men in UK in past year
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