Sons were suspects in almost one in five killings of women recorded in the UK over the past year, according to new figures showing the highest annual rate of suspected matricide in the 16 years covered by the Femicide Census.
The independent project recorded 19 mothers killed in cases where their sons are suspected, out of 108 women killed by men, or in cases where a man has been charged, in the 12 months since the last International Women’s Day. That means suspected matricides accounted for about 18 per cent of the total.
The figures will be marked in Parliament on Thursday, when Labour MP Jess Phillips is due to read out the names of the 108 women during the International Women’s Day debate in the House of Commons. It will be the 11th consecutive year that Phillips has read the names aloud, and she is expected to seek permission again to go beyond the standard speaking time allotted to MPs because the list takes more than five minutes to complete.
The data was compiled by the Femicide Census through its Counting Dead Women project, which tracks killings of women by men across the UK. Campaigners said the latest figures point to a growing and under-recognised pattern of fatal violence within families, particularly against older women.
Clarrie O’Callaghan, co-founder of the Femicide Census, said the organisation had watched “in horror” as suspected matricides rose, and argued that pressures in mental health services, substance misuse and housing insecurity were contributing factors.
“Often the men who have killed their mothers have histories of abuse of their earlier partners, so they had moved in with their mother after those relationships broke down,” she said.
“However, despite our reporting on matricides for 10 years, no state agency has yet to acknowledge matricide, let alone take responsibility for tackling it.
“Women are rarely recognised as being at risk of fatal violence from their sons and there are few dedicated services for older women in the whole of the UK.”
The latest figures follow earlier Femicide Census analysis that found more than 170 mothers were killed by their sons between 2009 and 2021. In its “2,000 Women” report, published last year, the organisation said nearly one in 10 women killed by men over the previous 15 years were mothers killed by their sons.
That report also found mental ill health was a factor in 58 per cent of matricide cases recorded over that period, adding to calls for closer scrutiny of the links between domestic abuse, mental health provision and adult family dependency.
Thursday’s Commons reading has become an annual moment of parliamentary accountability on violence against women and girls. Phillips began the practice in 2015, using the debate around International Women’s Day to place on record the names of women killed over the previous year.
The latest figures are likely to add pressure on the government over whether its pledge to halve violence against women and girls within a decade is matched by sufficient funding and targeted intervention.
Ministers published a new violence against women and girls strategy in December, setting out plans to tackle harmful behaviour among boys, teach pupils about healthy relationships and the effects of pornography, and give teachers more tools to intervene early. Women’s groups welcomed the strategy as a significant step, particularly because it was the first of its kind to refer explicitly to femicide, but said it fell well short of the investment needed to meet the government’s stated ambition.
The government has said the strategy is backed by £1bn, including £50m for therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse, £19m for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors, and £550m to support victims and witnesses through the criminal justice system.
O’Callaghan said that, while the strategy’s reference to femicide was “a step in the right direction”, many of the frontline interventions provided by specialist organisations had still not been fully recognised or funded.
“We need new money, not previously committed money redistributed,” she said. “Specialist women-led charities are at risk of closure. This has been going on for years in the sector, and this is a government that knows that, and yet there is little change on the ground.”
Campaigners say the rise in suspected matricides highlights a broader gap in the way risks to women are assessed. While domestic abuse policy has traditionally focused on intimate partner violence, they argue that older women and mothers living with adult sons are too often overlooked by services and safeguarding systems.
With the names of 108 women set to be read into the parliamentary record, the latest figures are expected to sharpen calls for a more specific policy response to killings of mothers by sons, as well as renewed attention to the pressures facing mental health services, housing support and specialist charities working with women at risk.