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| Betrayed: Domestic Violence Campaigner before her deselection |
The Croydon Labour party was last night accused of staggering
hypocrisy over its pledge to make tackling domestic violence a top priority –
after The Croydon Gazette revealed
that the group AXED its domestic violence spokesperson. Last summer the party ruthlessly
deselected Karen Jewitt, a Woodside ward colleague of Labour Leader Tony
Newman, despite many years of service to her constituents.
Jewitt, who campaigned relentlessly against wife beaters,
once said, “The threat or reality of sexual and domestic violence impacts on
the lives of many women. A third of all women experience domestic violence at
some point in their lives, and around 25 London women are killed by their
current or former partner each year.”
“Violence against women - especially domestic violence - has
been identified as a key issue in all London boroughs in the crime audits and
community safety plans drawn up under the Crime and Disorder Act,” she added.
Conservative members were left genuinely shocked at the sacking
of a popular and well-liked woman who had campaigned for some of Croydon’s most
vulnerable women.
It is understood that Jewitt was campaigning specifically
around the growing problem of wife beaters using social media sites like blogs to
target the friends and family members of their victims – a strategy to leave
the victim feeling isolated and vulnerable.
A source inside Croydon Conservatives said, “We have a zero
tolerance approach to wife beaters.”
In January the Metropolitan Police revealed a 15.5 per cent
increase in domestic violence. Jewitt has since secured her position as a candidate in another seat.
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