Hammers. Petrol. Cricket bats. Laces. Kitchen knives. Saucepans. Dressing gown cords. These have all been used to murder women. What the killings have in common is that they were all carried out by men.
On 9 July, Carol Hunt and her daughters Louise and Hannah were killed using a crossbow at their home in Hertfordshire. Kyle Clifford has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The aftermath of the attack was a masterclass in problematic responses to male violence against women.
Reports described Clifford as a ‘nice... normal guy’ who ‘never seemed aggressive’, suggesting that the victims must have done something to provoke him. Sensational headlines described ‘crossbow carnage’, while others alleged a ‘messy break-up’ between Louise and Clifford, suggesting a dramatic ‘spurned lover’ narrative.
Outlets repeatedly reproduced images of Louise smiling with her alleged killer’s arm around her, a violation of her dignity explicitly advised against in domestic abuse reporting guidelines released by feminist campaign group Level Up. ‘BBC man’s wife... dead’, ‘John Hunt family latest’, read online headlines, relegating the victims to appendages of their male relative.
Commenters under online articles blamed the women, speculating about why they didn’t overpower their attacker. And politicians gave interviews, not about the epidemic of male violence and how they would tackle it, but about crossbows. ‘Crossbow laws being urgently reviewed after three women killed, says minister.’
This isn’t to say regulation isn’t important. Survivors of violent attacks have called for laws to be tightened and we should listen to them. But it’s frustrating to see those in power fail to demonstrate a similar level of focus on the primary cause of these women’s deaths: violent men. I’d have liked to see the headline, ‘Epidemic of male violence to be treated as a public health crisis, says minister.’
Between 2011 and 2021, crossbows were used to kill fewer than 10 people. In the same period, men killed more than 1,500 women in England and Wales*. In the same week that Carol, Louise and Hannah were killed, a man was jailed for strangling his estranged wife to death with a bootlace. A man was sent to prison for plotting to murder Holly Willoughby using chloroform and zip ties. A man in Preston was jailed for attempting to murder a woman with a hammer. A man was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in Plymouth. A man was jailed for stabbing a 74-year-old woman to death in Devon. A man appeared in court in Wales accused of murdering a 30-year-old mother. A 17-year old boy was charged with multiple offences after assaulting two women at a Sikh gurdwara using a bladed weapon.
Where are the urgent ministerial conversations about education, prevention, funding for frontline services? We are so desensitised to the murders of women by men that we focus on salacious details but not the underlying crisis. Until we change that, more women will pay with their lives.
Laura is author of ‘Men Who Hate Women’ For domestic abuse help visit womensaid.org.uk