‘Testament To Our Collective Failure’: Silence In Commons As Jess Philips Reads Names Of 101 Women Murdered By Men

Debate in the House of Commons fell silent in solemn reflection on Thursday as a tearful Labour MP Jess Phillips read out the names of 101 women killed by men over the past year.

Phillips fiercely criticised the government’s inaction and the trivialisation of women’s safety, expressing her frustration at not being able to enact legislation against femicide.

She told politicians: “I am tired of fighting for systematic change and being given table scraps. Never again do I want to hear a politician say that lessons will be learned from abject failure. It is not true. This list is no longer just a testament to these women’s lives, it is a testament to our collective failure. At least half of the names I am about to read out could have been saved.”

The Labour MP then fulfilled her annual ritual of reading out the names of 101 murdered women, including an unnamed woman, as part of the Commons’ International Women’s Day debate.

In closing, she said: “All of these women mattered. They need to matter much more to politics. And I urge again, as I have for years, for the government to have a strategy for reducing femicide. Warm words and no political priority will never make this list shorter.”