In the seven months since Sabina Nessa's murder, more than 70 women will have been killed in the UK as a result of male violence, Solace Women's Aid tells GB News as they warn against an "epidemic of femicide".
Ms Nessa was brutally murdered by Koci Selamaj in London on 17 September 2021.
Selamaj strook her over the head 34 times with a 2 ft long metal traffic triangle before carrying her away unconscious in south-east London
He then pulled up her clothes, removed her tights and underwear and strangled her before covering her body in grass.
Today, at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Sweeney slammed him with a minimum term of 36 years for the “savage” sexually motivated attack.
Ahead of the sentencing, Isabelle Younane, head of policy, campaigns and public affairs at Women’s Aid said the death was “devastating” adding: “It is appalling that she was yet another woman who could not safely walk home."
Primary school teacher Sabina Nessa who was murdered by Koci Selamaj in London on 17 September 2021
Metropolitan Police
Supporters from the Sabina Project outside the Old Bailey, central London, ahead of the sentencing of garage worker Koci Selamaj for the murder of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa
Yui Mok
Solace Women's Aid told GB News that in the seven months since Ms Nessa’s death, “70 women will have been killed in the UK” as a result of male violence against women (MVAWG), and more than one hundred will have taken their own lives as a result of the trauma of abuse.
They said: "This epidemic of femicide has to stop. All women should be able to walk through a park to meet a friend without fear of attack."
In the 28 weeks after Sarah Everard's abduction and murder, at least 81 other UK women were killed in circumstances where the suspect is a man, The Guardian reports.
Ms Younane continued: “Women should be safe wherever they are, at home and in public, and this requires a whole system approach by the UK Government to address male violence against women.
“The reaction to Sabina’s death has not been on the same level as others, and time and time again we see how victims from Black and minoritised communities do not receive the same level of attention and support. This must change.
"Sabina’s death is as unacceptable and shocking as that of any other woman, and our headlines, TV coverage and outrage in our social media posts should reflect this."
Supporters from the Sabina Project outside the Old Bailey, central London, ahead of the sentencing of garage worker Koci Selamaj
Yui Mok
Ms Younane has called upon the criminal justice system to make tackling violence against women a priority.
She said: “Until we all face up to and challenge the misogyny and sexism inherent in society- the root of all violence against women – the safety of women and girls will continue to be at risk.”
In the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 1.6 million women aged 16 to 74 years in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse, around 7 percent of the female population according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The latest ONS figures also found that between April 2020 and March 2021, 177 women were murdered in England and Wales.
Of these women, 109 were killed by a man and in 58 cases there was no known suspect.
This means that – where the suspect was known – 92 percent of women were killed by men in the year ending March 2021.
Reading a statement yesterday in court, Sabina Nessa’s sister Jabina Islam called Selamaj, who refused to turn up to court for the sentencing, a “coward” for not facing up to his crime.
She said: “You are an awful human being and do not deserve your name to be said. You are a disgusting animal.”
She said her sister was an “amazing role model” who was “powerful, fearless, bright and just an amazing soul”.
She described being haunted by images of what her sister went through in her last moments.
Sabina Nessa’s parents Abdur Rouf and Azibun Nessa said in a statement: “As a parent you would never have thought that your child would die before you, not in a way our Sabina died.”
Addressing her killer, they said: “You had no right to take her away from us in such a cruel way.
“The moment the police officer came to our house and told her she was found dead our world shattered into pieces.
“How could you do such a thing to an innocent girl walking by, minding her own business. You are not a human being, you are an animal.”
They described Ms Nessa as kind, funny and determined with a love of animals.
