Black women in London facing higher femicide rate, figures show

Black women in London are said to be facing a “crisis”, with higher rates of femicide in the capital than other ethnic groups, new figures reveal.

Femicide broadly refers to the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, highlighting the issue of violence targeted specifically at females.

Figures obtained by the PA News agency from the Metropolitan Police show of the 21 femicide victims recorded by the force in 2022, nine victims (43%) were black.

The figure rose the following year when eight of the 13 femicide victims (62%) were black, the data shows.

Met Police data also shows sharp instruments were the most common method for killing the victims, being used in 13 of the 25 femicides recorded in 2021, 16 of the 21 in 2022 and seven of the 13 in 2023.

Southall Black Sisters, an organisation dedicated to assisting society’s most marginalised victims of abuse, said while the findings are “really shocking,” it sadly does not come as a surprise that there’s a disproportionate impact on black women.

The group’s Selma Taha sad: “Why is the value of black women’s lives so obsolete, they’re facing a crisis… we need politicians and the police to step up.”

The Femicide Census, a database providing detailed information on women killed in the UK and their perpetrators, criticised the Met Police and the Mayor of London, saying they “simply don’t care enough” about femicide.

Chanel Vasiliou, 31, from London – whose sister Keisha Christodoulou was fatally stabbed in north London in November 2022 – said there needs to be “tougher laws against men committing violence or murder against women”.

She added that femicide and violence against women are not receiving “the level of attention and care” they urgently need, and emphasised the necessity for more “culturally specific services” for black women.

“Our women need to be protected, and right now, they are not,” she said.

Met Police Commander Kevin Southworth said: “We take violence against women and girls in all its forms extremely seriously.

“We are committed to protecting those who are at risk, regardless of their ethnicity or faith, and understand that communities are affected in different ways.

“We work with victim-survivors, charities and partners to listen to, transform and improve our response to all victims.”

Responding to the Femicide Census’ claim that the Met had previously refused to release this data, he said: “We provided data for all women who had been killed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021 to the Femicide Consensus – the data that was not released was due to families who did not wish for the victims’ data and details to be shared in any form.”

A spokesperson for Mayor of London said Sadiq Khan has invested £163m as part of his public health approach to tackle violence against women and girls.

This includes targeted funding to support community organisations working with women and girls from black, Asian and minority-ethnic communities and other minoritised groups, including the LGBTQ+ community, the City Hall spokesperson added.