In the two and a half years since the murders of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman sparked outrage across the country and collective demands for change, women and girls continue to be harmed and killed by men. Sabina Nessa, Zara Aleena, Bobbi-Anne McLeod and just last week, 15 year old Elianne Andam.
Elianne’s murder on her way to school has been predominantly framed as knife crime by a media which racialises this issue as one that predominantly affects Black boys. However, we cannot ignore that this story is also one of violence against women and girls, as details to date suggest that Elianne was killed defending her friend who had rejected the romantic advances of her attacker; repeating a pattern seen across cases of domestic abuse, with escalated risk of violence post-separation.