THE death of Sarah Everard has shone a spotlight on the safety of women, triggering a public outcry and prompting many victims to open up about the abuse they have faced. 

Campaigners say there is a deadly “global pandemic” of violence against women and Home Office statistics show they are disproportionately impacted by sex crimes - and more likely to be victims of stalking, harassment and domestic abuse than men.

Analysis of West Yorkshire Police figures show the risks faced by women in the county. The Force has said it is committed to supporting victims and bringing offenders to justice.

According to a report from the Femicide Census, a research and campaigning organisation, 62 of those killed in West Yorkshire in the decade to 2018 were females aged over 14, who were all killed by men.

West Yorkshire Police said that between 2017 and 2020, 72 per cent of homicide victims were male, but 46 per cent of female victims were linked to domestic abuse-related incidents.

Of the 3,418 rape cases recorded in West Yorkshire in the year to March 2020, 89 per cent involved female victims, as did 84 per cent of 2,447 sexual assaults dealt with by the Force in that time. There were also more than 52,000 crimes flagged as domestic abuse by officers in that period  and the force area has the highest national rate of such crimes.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “Women should feel safe to walk the streets of West Yorkshire and we remain committed to working with partner organisations to make the county a safer place to live and work in. We understand the genuine safety concerns that women have.

"Recent public events around the country have made it very clear that women are genuinely concerned about their safety and we reaffirm our commitment to supporting victims and bringing offenders to justice.”

Figures for the whole of England and Wales show that at least two-thirds of domestic abuse victims in the year to March 2020 were female. More than 70 per cent of the 2,075 women and girls killed in the decade to March last year knew their murderer, compared to almost half of the male murder victims. 

A spokeswoman for Rape Crisis called for radical action in the fight to end violence against women and warned that the scope of the problem is much higher than official figures suggest.

Domestic abuse has increased during the coronavirus lockdowns but the spokeswoman said: “Violence against women and girls is a global pandemic that long pre-exists Covid-19. In this country alone, it severely and negatively impacts millions of lives, communities and society as a whole – and it is deadly.

"The vast majority of it is never reported to the police and when it is, it rarely ends in criminal justice being served.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel urged people to share their views with the Government after thousands shared their experiences of violence and abuse following the death of Sarah Everard.

She said: “Everyone should be free to walk our streets without the slightest fear. With Sarah and her family in my thoughts and prayers, I will continue to do all I can in my role as Home Secretary to protect women and girls.”