The circumstances of female homicides in England and Wales

The kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard by an off-duty earlier this month has sparked outrage across the United Kingdom and ramped up the focus on violence against women in the country. In this infographic we take a look at the latest homicide statistics based on the 188 female victims in England and Wales in the 12 months up to March 2020.

Overwhelmingly, women are killed at home, or that of somebody else (78 percent of cases), with the perpetrator being a partner or ex-partner 35 percent of the time. As our infographic shows, with 11 percent, the second most common location was on a street, footpath or alleyway. Comparing to male homicide victims, the location types are more evenly spread with 38 percent for both a house and on the street. There is also a large difference in the relationship the victims had to their attackers. In 33 percent of the cases, the perpetrator was a stranger to the deceased, and 23 percent of the time it was a friend or acquaintance.