A report has revealed that nearly 10% of all women killed by men in the UK over the past 15 years were mothers killed by their sons. The analysis of 2,000 women’s deaths since 2009 sheds light on the hidden issue of matricide, with over 170 mothers losing their lives at the hands of their sons. 

This data has sparked calls for the government to address matricide specifically, raise awareness about the risks sons pose to mothers, and provide support for victims.

The Femicide Census' 2,000 Women report, shared with The Guardian, indicates that mental health issues played a role in 58% of matricide cases. Karen Ingala Smith, a co-founder of the campaign group, stated that women are often left "paying the price" due to failures in the state system.

She said, "Male violence against mothers is a largely unrecognized but brutal reality," adding, "What we see in these figures is the tip of the iceberg. These are the women who have been killed, but there will be many more hidden victims out there living their lives in absolute misery."

Experts pointed to mental health issues, substance abuse, and the growing trend of adult children living with their parents due to the housing crisis as key factors behind these killings. Additionally, misogyny was also highlighted, with mothers sometimes seen as a "safe space" for children to unleash violence.

Read next: Unprecedented surge in children facing mental health crises in England

Is it domestic abuse?

Upcoming research by Prof. Rachel Condry and Dr. Caroline Miles, from Oxford and Manchester universities, in partnership with the Femicide Census, reveals that 70% of cases involving women killed by their sons or grandsons between 2009 and 2021 had perpetrators with mental health issues.

Despite this, Prof Condry highlighted the lack of a targeted prevention policy for mothers caring for mentally ill sons. "Parents who are experiencing [violence from their children] often don’t identify it as a form of domestic abuse, and it’s incredibly difficult for them to seek help or for the problem to be recognized," she said.

The Femicide Census report examines 2,000 legally closed cases of women killed by men in the UK over 15 years, from 2009 onwards, gathering data through freedom of information requests to police and media reports.

The Guardian's Killed Women Count project documented every woman allegedly killed by a man last year, including Mayawati Bracken, 56, who was killed by her 18-year-old son Julian in her car near their Berkshire family home before he took his own life.

In numbers: What do the figures say? 

The figures revealed that 90% of the killers were family members, partners, or known to the victim, with 61% of women killed by a current or former partner. Approximately 80% of the killings occurred in the home of either the victim or the perpetrator.

"This is a 2,000 women line in the sand," said the Femicide Census cofounder Clarrie O’Callaghan, adding, "This Labour government has committed to halve violence against women. The data is here, we know what the issues are. Now is the time not only to tackle male violence against women, but end it."

A recent report stated: 

• 61% of women were killed by a current or former partner, 9% of women were killed by their sons, 6% by other family members, 15% by other men they knew and 10% by someone they did not know. Of the 213 women killed by a close family member, 80% were mothers killed by sons
• Nearly half of women were stabbed, 27% strangled and 17% hit with a blunt instrument. In 16% of cases, a man used kicking, hitting or stomping as the weapon. In almost a quarter of cases, more than one form of violence was used
• Overkill – the use of excessive, gratuitous violence beyond that necessary to cause the victim’s death – happened in 59% of femicides
• Leicestershire had the highest rate of femicide over the period, followed by Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and London
• Killed women involved in prostitution were younger and less likely to have been born in the UK
• Children witnessed at least 163 femicides, while 37 women were killed alongside 53 children, most commonly by their father