14 February 2020updated 09 Sep 2021 4:14pm

Murders of women and girls are soaring – are we dismissing the danger of controlling men?

The number of women and girls killed in England and Wales has risen 10 per cent on last year to the highest level since 2006.

By Sarah Green

A Romanian mother and her child light candles in front of cardboard women silhouettes marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Bucharest November 25, 2010. AFP PHOTO DANIEL MIHAILESCU (Photo credit should read DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)

New crime figures show that the number of women killed by a partner or former partner rose sharply last year – from 63 to 80. And while murders as a whole declined, the number of women and girls murdered went up by an alarming 10 per cent on the previous year, to 241 – the highest level for 14 years.

This included a huge rise in the number of female victims aged over 65, from 33 to 58, making women the majority of murder victims in that age group (a significant number of female murder victims are killed by their adult sons).