In a recent interview on LBC Radio, the Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch stated:

“As a black woman in this country, I have never seen the level of racism, discrimination, intimidation and attacks that have been directed at the Jewish community.” (1)

Critics have suggested that having disavowed her Nigerian heritage after years of denigration, His Majesty’s Official Opposition head is implicitly using the Afrikan community, that she demonstrably has little affinity to, as a political prop. (2)

Like so many in public life, perhaps as a self-preservation strategy, she dare not touch the issue of how antisemitism is weaponised especially against criticism of Israel. (3) She also steadfastly refuses to engage with the structural issues affecting Afrikans in the UK and Afrikan women in particular and has even facilitated attacks against them. (4)

While Badenoch goes out to bat for other communities, we are seeing the “rise of Black femicide in the United Kingdom,” which can be seen as part of the “surge” in misogynoir. Yet this reality is hidden by poor data and systemic neglect and even attacks on those inclined to raise awareness like Black journalists. For example, in 2023, Black women accounted for 62% of femicide victims in London despite being just 14% of the population. (5)

So the surge is being matched by a decreasing level of coverage. This explains why names like Blessing Olusegun, Taiwo Balogun, Kayon Williams, Edna Mmbali Ombakho and Samaria Ayanle are unfamiliar to most. In the last half decade these five Afrikan women have been found dead in water after going missing for between a day and thirty-five days. The deaths have been ruled either suicide or “non-suspicious” but it remains a staggering coincidence that has many in the community concerned. (6)

Alarmed by this growing trend and the lack of coverage Sis. Latoya Dennis presciently established BlackFemicideUK in 2021 to address the systemic neglect and lack of media coverage when Afrikan women go missing or experience violence. Now called ForBlackWomenUK it stated goals include:

• Raising awareness about violence affecting Black women
• Increasing visibility of missing Black women and girls
• Educating the community on gender-based violence
• Sharing resources and support services
• Building community and safe spaces for Black women in the UK

Of course this would entail putting pressure on the powers that be to match their rhetoric about their “strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).” Part of this should include challenging those that have weaponised this issue, primarily for political purposes, but have no real commitment to dealing with it in a substantive way.. (7)

But it also means addressing the issues within the community as well In the 2025 report published by Sistah Space the charity that supports Afrikan women and girls affected by domestic abuse revealed that:

• 89% of respondents stated that they personally know a Black woman who has experienced or is currently experiencing domestic abuse.
• More than half (56%) reported experiencing domestic abuse themselves. Among those that had experienced abuse:
• 78% shared that they had experienced domestic abuse on more than one occasion or during more than one period of time.
• 76% of survivors said they had wanted to report abuse but felt unable to do so. (8)

The report also highlights the “unspoken need to protect our men from the system that has helped to break them” putting Afrikan women in the unenviable position of even considering having to protect their abuser at the expense of themselves. (9)

This indicates the wide-ranging work that needs to be done within a wider environment that continues to demonstrate it’s disinterest in the issues facing the Afrikan community. It certainly includes supporting initiatives like ForBlackWomenUK and Sistah Space. It also requires a deep examination of that attitudes and practices that facilitate harm and working to build the kinds of structures that can meaningfully

(1) Ella Bennett (20/04/26) Racism, discrimination and intimidation towards the Jewish community is at a level I’ve never seen, says Kemi Badenoch. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/kemi-badenoch-antisemitism-jewish-attacks-5HjdXzj_2/

(2) Faridah Abdulkadiri (01/08/25) Kemi Badenoch: I No Longer Identify as Nigerian. https://www.arise.tv/kemi-badenoch-i-no-longer-identify-as-nigerian/; Kimbunga Media (09/09/24) Kemi Badenoch & Nigerian “Socialist Military Governments.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD61KNsu-yU; Kimbunga Media (05/11/24) NIGERIANS React To Kemi Badenoch Leadership Election. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcm9Kz-OqjI; Michael Bankole (05/12/24) I research race in politics – Kemi Badenoch’s views on inequality should worry Black Britons. https://theconversation.com/i-research-race-in-politics-kemi-badenochs-views-on-inequality-should-worry-black-britons-244242

(3) Neve Gordon (04/12/25) How the Jewish Chronicle weaponises ‘antisemitism’ to fuel a moral panic. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-jewish-chronicle-weaponises-antisemitism-fuel-moral-panic; Rachel Shabi (31/12/24) The term ‘antisemitism’ is being weaponised and stripped of meaning – and that’s incredibly dangerous. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/31/antisemitism-israel-gaza-war-right

(4) blam UK (14/11/24) What Does Kemi Badenoch Really Mean for Black Britain? https://blamuk.org/2024/11/14/what-does-kemi-badenoch-really-mean-for-black-britain/; Nadine White (05/02/21) Kemi Badenoch violated me, assaulted the free press and still refuses to apologise. https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/kemi-badenoch-nadine-white-twitter-investigation-free-press-b918747.html

(5) Ruweyda Ahmed (05/05/25) The rise of Black femicide in the United Kingdom. https://www.gender.ed.ac.uk/blog/2025/rise-black-femicide-united-kingdom; Char-Lee Lewis (07/09/25) Femicide in the UK: A Decolonial Feminist Examination through Race, Class and Migration. https://migrantwomenpress.com/2025/09/07/femicide-in-the-uk-a-decolonial-feminist-examination-through-race-class-and-migration/; National Union of Journalists (04/03/21) How gender-based violence is silencing women journalists. https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/how-gender-based-violence-is-silencing-women-journalists.html. NUJ national executive member Natasha Hirst told the TUC Women’s Conference that female writers are self-censoring or withdrawing from online spaces as a result of the abuse they suffer: “Online abuse of journalists is highly gendered and is a form of discrimination and violence against women. It’s intersectional too, with Black women journalists being especially targeted.”; BBC News (28/05/24) Black women in London face higher femicide rates. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0xxgn82yv7o; Staff Writer(30/12/24) Afrofemicide: the silent war on Black women. https://www.voice-online.co.uk/opinion/comment/2024/12/30/afrofemicide-the-silent-war-on-black-women/; Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan on Galaxy Radio (13/03/23) Are Black women safe in the UK? https://alkebulan.org/2023/03/13/aswag-424-blk-women-safe/; Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan on Galaxy Radio (03/03/25) Are Black women safe in the UK? Pt. 2. https://alkebulan.org/2025/03/03/aswag-526-are-black-women-safe-uk-2/

(6) Black Current News (07/04/26) Why are Black women being found dead in water across the UK? https://www.blackcurrentnews.co.uk/p/black-women-deaths-water-uk-missing-cases; Renee Washington (27/03/24) ‘I’m A Black Woman From London, Would Anyone Care If I Went Missing?’ https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/black-missing-people-samaria-ayanle/

(7) Home Office (18/12/25) Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-from-violence-and-abuse-a-cross-government-strategy; Marianna Spring (26/04/26) The crime that never happened – but sparked a rage bait frenzy anyway. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9370jqxy18o

(8) Ngozi Fulani, Naomi Bahru, Djanomi Robinson, Hannah Francis & Jessie Auguste (2025) Experiences of Domestic Abuse Support Among African and Caribbean Heritage Black Women. Sistah Space. p. 12. https://www.sistahspace.org/research

(9) Fulani et al. p. 23

(10) Jenny Bourne (20/04/21) Sewell: a report for neoliberal times. https://irr.org.uk/article/sewell-a-report-for-neoliberal-times/

Are Black women safe in the UK? Pt. 3

1) Is Kemi Badenoch accurate in her assessment of racist attacks against different communities?

2) Is five Afrikan women being found dead in water just coincidence?

3) How can we address abuse if women are reluctant to report it?

4) What kind of internal work is required to address these issues?

Our Special Guest:

Sis. Latoya Dennis: is the founder of ForBlackWomenUK, set up in 2021 as a platform dedicated to raising awareness about issues that disproportionately affect Black women and girls in the UK. ForBlackWomenUK is also a space for supporting community conversations and advocating for justice and safety for Black women and girls. (facebook.com/blackfemicideuk; Instagram: forblackwomenuk; X: forblackwomenuk)

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