In just 20 years, 27 women in North Staffordshire have seen their lives brutally ended by men. The shocking statistic comes amid the debate around the freedom and safety of women following the killing of Sarah Everard in London and murder of PCSO Julia James in Kent. It has triggered a surge in women speaking openly about the abuse, threats, harassment and violence they are subjected to from men. Crofts, 30, was this week sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 16 years and nine months after stabbing Kimberley to death in a jealous rage. Other innocent victims a teenage girl who was brutally raped and murdered by a footballer, a sex worker strangled to death and a young woman whose sadistic husband doused her in petrol and then set her on fire.