A rise in domestic violence murders shows why complacency over Boycott's honour is not acceptable

From 'I don't give a toss, love' to Johnson's 'girly swot' insults, misogyny is deeply embedded in our culture – and it has dangerous consequences

The year is 2019. We have a government in turmoil, a country in crisis, domestic violence incidents are on the rise and a convicted domestic abuser has been awarded a knighthood. It’s a confusing time, especially for women.

The announcement that ex-cricketer Geoffrey Boycott would be knighted in Theresa May’s resignation honours list has been widely condemned. In 1998, Boycott was convicted in a French court of pinning down his then-girlfriend, Margaret Moore, and punching her repeatedly in the face. Despite repeated denials, Boycott was ordered to pay a £5,000 fine and given a three-month suspended sentence.

Adina Claire, co-acting chief executive of Women’s Aid described the knighthood as “extremely disappointing”. But when Radio 4’s Martha Kearney put Claire’s comments to Boycott, his condescending response – “I don’t give a toss about her, love” – merely reinforced the misogyny.

Theresa May’s landmark domestic abuse bill this year set out to protect victims from further trauma and implement strategies to protect and support women and children fleeing abuse. The bill is badly needed: this week it was announced that there were 173 domestic violence related murders in 2018 – the highest level since the BBC began collating data from police forces five years ago. Three quarters of these victims were women, and the perpetrators were predominantly men. For many, these numbers are seen as evidence that austerity and the cuts to women’s services, including abuse refuges, are killing women.

Despite it being 101 years since women fought for and won the vote, we are still infantilised, silenced, shut down and locked out. And we don’t need to look further than our elected leaders.

Boris Johnson recently referred to Jeremy Corbyn as a “big girl’s blouse”; days later it was claimed he had dismissed his predecessor David Cameron as a “girly swot”. In the US, Donald Trump was elected president amid a string of sexual assault accusations, and his referring to women as “ugly dogs” and “disgusting”.

Sexist language pervades the political classes and trickles down to our streets, our playgrounds and bedrooms. And as misogyny is legitimised by those in power, crimes against women are on the rise. In 2016, the Nottingham Police force became the first in the UK to categorise crimes against women as hate crimes. Research carried out with the Nottingham Women’s Centre found that over 93 per cent of participants experienced behaviour defined as misogyny. Of hate crimes reported last year, more than half were due to gender.

With men such as Johnson and Trump representing countries on a global stage, is it any wonder that misogyny is a pandemic? Crimes against women are symptomatic of a culture that disbelieves the value of women and their basic human rights. Those politicians educated in the privileged, cloistered world of upper-class, single-sex schools, are the poster children of male chauvinism.

According to the United Nations Information Centre women’s empowerment is synonymous with economic growth and political stability, so is misogyny in politics to blame for our current shaken democratic state? The number of female MPs is rising, but women still account for less than 30 per cent of parliament. As of this summer, the number of women in the cabinet has dropped to its lowest level since 2014. It’s difficult to confront and tackle derogatory views when women are not in the room, never mind at the table.

In the face of increased gender-based violence and widening inequality, it is imperative that we hold those in positions of power and influence to account. Unfortunately, with men still ruling power institutionally, we look to them to quite literally have our backs, to uphold the laws already in place and provide support for victims. Not knighting abusers. Not using feminine pronouns as derogatory insults thrown across party lines.

In December 2018, the role of domestic abuse commissioner was advertised. Ten months later, the job remains unfulfilled.

It is time we held men in power to account and stop the language of misogyny. We need to stop the lauding of abusers.

In short, we should give a toss, love.