"I was laughed at for quitting", Ex-Tory Councillor Black slaves comment, RIP Alex Wheatle & stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shoudn't have missed this week -curated by Melissa Sigodo

“Black victims of femicide receive less public attention than white women", writes Andrea Simon in this week's opinion

Good morning, afternoon or evening,

Thank you for subscribing to The Source.

I hope you are doing well. It seems like people have been enjoying the warmer weather in the UK as I’ve been observing some weekday drinking on terraces going on.

If you’re not from Britain, you might view these scenes differently…

This week, the country was forced to confront toxic masculinity and male violence against women and girls (VAWG) following the premiere of the Netflix drama Adolescence which put these issues into focus.

As you know, my newsletter has its own category highlighting VAWG, looking specifically at women and girls from Black, Asian and Arab backgrounds whose tragic cases sadly don’t get the same attention.

Although, Adolescence has brought these uncomfortable topics to the table, what happens after the conversations end and it isn’t trending Top 10 anymore? Especially for women from ethnic minortiy backgrounds.

Fortunately, there are people working tirelessly to ensure that tackling VAWG stays on the agenda and this week, Andrea Simon from the charity End Violence Against Women is sharing her thoughts with readers of The Source on what needs to be done to put an end to the epidemic that has brutally taken so many precious lives.

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Opinion: The Read - Andrea Simon

Andrea Simon is the Executive Director of End Violence Against Women. She is also a member of the London Policing Board and Co-Chair of the London VAWG Board at the Mayors Office for Policing and Crime. You can follow Andrea on X formerly Twitter at AndreaSimon48.

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“Black victims of femicide receive less public attention than white women, as well as patterns of being disproportionately disbelieved and dismissed when trying to report violence or access help. An understanding of the prevalence and severity of VAWG must now be matched with investment in support, and crucially preventing harm not just responding after it has occurred”, writes Andrea Simon.

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Andrea Simon - Saturday March 22, 2025 - The Source

We are in the grip of an epidemic of violence against women and girls that shows no sign of slowing down. VAWG crimes are substantial, making up at least 20% of all crimes recorded in England and Wales, with over 1 million offences recorded by police in 2022/23.

It’s an enduring fact that a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK, most likely by a current or former partner, and one in four women will be victims of sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetimes. But some groups of women are also more likely to experience abuse and less likely to receive support. According to the charity Refuge, Black women are 14% less likely to be referred to support for domestic abuse than white women, and the Crime Survey England and Wales reveals that people with disabilities are more than twice as likely to be victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault. We also consistently see that Black victims of femicide receive less public attention than white women, as well as patterns of being disproportionately disbelieved and dismissed when trying to report violence or access help.

The National Audit Office (NAO) published its review of the Conservative government’s spending against the 2021-2024 VAWG strategy, finding that it neither improved outcomes for victims nor made progress in developing measures to prevent VAWG and deliver long-term societal change. Concerningly the Home Office were underspending against the budget they had allocated to their own VAWG Strategy, by an average of 15% between 2021-22 and 2023-24. This is shocking, considering over the last decade, incidents of rape and sexual assault against women and girls recorded by police have increased almost fourfold, and frontline services like domestic abuse refuges and rape crisis centres have faced a severe funding crisis. There are approximately 14,000 survivors on waiting lists for rape crisis support in England and Wales, and many other services across the country are on the brink of closure - particularly smaller expert services run ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women, deaf and disabled and other marginalised groups.

An understanding of the prevalence and severity of VAWG must now be matched with investment in support, and crucially preventing harm not just responding after it has occurred. This must include education in schools, so we begin to shift the attitudes that drive this violence - this is more urgent than ever in the digital age with young people exposed to a tidal wave of online misogyny.

Alongside a radical overhaul of spending to tackle VAWG - with support services fully funded so that every survivor can access help when they need it – the responsibility for tackling this abuse must sit across every department of government.

The Labour government has a huge opportunity to learn from past mistakes and ensure that the next VAWG strategy is effective at both preventing and addressing abuse, if it is to deliver on its mission to halve VAWG and make the country safer for all women and girls.

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This week’s newsletter features a few world news updates including the situation in Congo, Gaza and the US. There’s also an update on the Stephen Lawrence case. For those who may not know, he was a young Black boy killed in a racist attack. Footballer Myles Lewis-Skelly has done it again after they tried to humble him and rapper Stormzy hits the headlines but for much different reasons this time.

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News

A former banker says he was “laughed at” for quitting his job to start a vegan footwear brand but now he’s had Dwayne The Rock Johnson and others wear his shoes. Emmanuel Eribo from Brent says he couldn’t have done it without his supportive mum who sold second hand cars to provide before building ‘her own empire.’ Read the full story by me at The Mirror

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Rapper Stormzy has been nominated for an honorary degree from Cambridge University in recognition of his philanthropic work. In 2018, he launched a scholarship programme for Black students at the university covering tuition and maintenance costs. Read the full story by ITV

Sport

Footballer Myles Lewis-Skelly has made England history as he became the youngest player to score on their senior debut since the team’s first official match against Scotland in 1972 breaking a 152-year record. Read the full story by Jake Lambourne at TalkSport

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Tributes

Children’s writer and author of award-winning Crongton series, Alex Wheatle has died of prostate cancer at the age of 62. He was known for his work promoting literacy among young people and was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2008. Read the full story by Caroline Carpenter at The Bookseller

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The family of a King’s College student who died after being hit by a van in central London have paid tribute describing her as a “bright, kind and beautiful soul, who brought joy and laughter to everyone.” Aalia Mahomed, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver of the van was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and suspicion of drug driving offences. Read the full story by ITVX

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Alleged Violence Against Women and Girls

A man has been charged with the murder of Harshita Brella, 24, who was found in a car. Along with a murder charge, her husband Pankaj Lamba is also charged with two counts of rape, sexual assault, and controlling or coercive behaviour. Story by Matt Watts at London Evening Standard

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Police have released photos of a man they want to speak to after a horrific attack which saw a schoolgirl racially abused and punched three times. The suspect is said to have barged a group of girls outside of Gipsy Hill station at 7.45 pm on February 6. When confronted he allegedly became violent. See appeal

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Policing

Four Northamptonshire Police officers have been served disciplinary notices over alleged failings in handling a domestic abuse report made by Harshita Brella who was found dead in a car. Read the full story by Joseph Reaidi at the Romford Recorder

Politics

Former councillor Andrew Edwards who in a recording said, ‘I think all white men should have a Black person as a slave’ because they’re ‘lower class than us white people’, claimed he was the victim of a deep fake, but an investigation found it was his voice. Read the full story by Paul Piggot at BBC

Stephen Lawrence

One of Stephen Lawrence's murderers who denied being part of the racist attack has now accepted that he was involved and punched Stephen but claims that he did not wield the knife. However, David Norris does not accept he holds racist views, a report said. Read the full story by Daniel De Simone at BBC

Health

A woman who thought she was feeling numbness due to weightlifting later found out that she was suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). Elisha Samuels, 36, hopes to raise more awareness about the condition as around 3,600 people between the ages of 30 and 49 are diagnosed with MS each year. Read the full story by Claudia Lee at South London Press

Legal

Nicholas Prosper, 19, who killed his mum, brother and sister has been jailed for life, with a minimum prison term of 49 years before he will be considered for release on parole. After murdering his mother Juliana Falcon, 48, his brother Kyle, 16, and 13-year-old sister, Giselle, the teenager planned to kill more than 30 children at his former primary school. Read the full story by Danny Fullbrook at BBC