An exclusive Broadly FOI investigation, published today, has found that four women in South Wales were killed by people they had previously reported to police in the last three years.
Using freedom of information laws, Broadly (VICE’s women’s website) asked every police force in the UK how many women had reported an abusive partner, ex-partner, or stalker for threatening behaviour and went on to be killed by that individual.
New data obtained from South Wales Police can reveal that four women died in this way over the past three years, though it was unable to supply the names of the victims.
Read the full investigation here: https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qv7dzd/south-wales-domestic-violence-stalking-deaths-unfollow-me
See all the data in the microsite: https://unfollowme.vice.com/
The data builds on Broadly’s long-running investigation into stalking and domestic abuse that illustrates a widespread police failure to protect women from violent and dangerous individuals. In total, Broadly’s data reveals that 60 women have died in the UK since 2015 despite previously flagging concerns about their killers to police.
Laura Richards, founder of anti-stalking charity Paladin, comments: “South Wales has one of the highest rates of killings of women by men of any force in the country. When women leave their controlling, abusive partner, the risk of serious harm and homicide increases significantly. It’s when the stalking begins, and coercive control and stalking correlate positively with murder. It’s high time South Wales Police trained their staff to take these cases seriously and they should proactively identify serial abusers. These are the most dangerous of cases and too many women are paying with their lives. The current situation is unacceptable.”
The data will be released as part of awareness campaign – ‘Unfollow Me’ – an initiative from Broadly and anti-stalking charity Paladin, which is designed to amplify the voices of stalking and domestic abuse victims.
