Justice For Our Daughters Campaign
Daily Mirror
Every three days in Britain a woman is killed by a man, and more often than not this happens inside the home.
In most circumstances, if an abuser murders a partner or family member inside with a weapon they will get a life sentence with a sentencing starting point of 15 years – 10 years fewer than if they had killed the same person in the street.
The Mirror is determined to end this injustice. We launched the campaign with a front-page appeal for members of the public to take party in the Government’s Murder Sentencing Consultation.
Alongside this we ran the first of a number of interviews with the relatives of murdered women who had been let down by the justice system.
These included Julie Devey, whose daughter Poppy was stabbed nearly 100 times by her boyfriend who was only sentenced to 16 years 2 months, and Carol Gould whose daughter Ellie was stabbed and strangled to death by her boyfriend who received 12.5 years in prison.
The campaign was supported by Jess Phillips, Spice Girl Mel B, Hetti Nanton, chair of Refuge, Dame Cheri Blair and the then shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, among others. We also worked with the pressure group Killed Women, made up of bereaved family members.
The heart-breaking stories we told were picked up by other publications and the campaign was discussed widely in the broadcast media.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak eventually pledged to change the law in June if he were to stay in power. The Mirror is now calling on the new government, many of whose members have been great supporters of the campaign, to follow suit. The Mirror’s Justice For Our Daughter campaign also called for domestic abuse experts in 999 call centres, and longer sentences for strangulation - something the Labour government is now introducing.
We are also demanding that those who abuse someone to the point that they take their own life as a direct result, to be charged with manslaughter. We interviewed grieving mum Sharon Holland at her home, whose daughter Chloe took her own life after being told to do so by her ex, and harassed and abused to the point she felt there was no way out. There is not enough awareness around all these issues, and things need to change.
Most people are not aware of the disparity and unfairness when it comes to domestic murder, or the lenient way abusers who cause deaths are treated.
Families' lives are too often broken twice - first by the shattering loss, and then the feeling that their loved ones have not received proper justice.