I Don't Want a Cupcake

On June 26, 2024, 26-year-old Louise Hunt ended a relationship with her boyfriend Kyle Clifford.

Louise Hunt

A week later, he brought a crossbow.

The next day, he bought duct tape.

And then he made plans.

Less than two weeks later, on July 9, Clifford turned up at Hunt’s family home, saying he had come to collect some of his belongings.

Louise’s mother Carol answered the door, and after a few minutes of chatting, Clifford stabbed her.

An hour and a half later, Louise entered the house and found her ex-boyfriend waiting for her.

He restrained her with duct tape, raped her, and then shot her with the crossbow.

Louise’s 28-year-old sister Hannah then arrived home, realized something was wrong, and texted her boyfriend to call the police.

Clifford then shot Hannah with a crossbow.

When the paramedics arrived, they found Carol, Louise and Hannah were all dead.

Less than three weeks later, an 18-year-old man came into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and carried out a “meticulously planned” stabbing rampage that killed three girls and injured 10 others.

The girls who were killed were Alice Da Silva Aguiar (age 9), Elsie Dot Stancombe (age 7), and Bebe King (age 6).

Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Bebe King

And in early August 2024, Taylor Swift was forced to cancel three of her popular Eras Tour concerts after a large-scale terrorist attack targeting her concerts in Vienna was revealed. 

Had there been violence at a Swift concert, we know who the victims would have been – predominantly young women and girls.

And these are just three examples of violence against women and girls that occurred over a short period of time last summer.

So this International Women’s Day, I don’t want a cupcake.

Or an inspirational quote.

Or anything pink.

I want a world where women and girls can go to a concert, or a dance class, or break up with a partner without fear of death.