Father of femicide victim made OBE warns of ‘negative role models’ for young men

A father whose daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend has warned that “negative role models” create “lots of pressures” for young men, as he was made an OBE at Buckingham Palace.

Nick Gazzard, 60, set up the Hollie Gazzard Trust after her death in 2014, when she was stabbed to death by her ex-partner while working at a hair salon in Gloucester.

Mr Gazzard has since dedicated his efforts to helping those affected by domestic abuse and stalking.

We're treading water, I think, in that respect, and there's lots of pressures around at the moment, particularly for young men, with some of the role models that are out there, which are maybe a negative role model

Speaking on Friday at Buckingham Palace after he was made an OBE by the Princess Royal for “services to tackling violence against women”, Mr Gazzard stressed the importance of educating young people about gender-based and domestic violence.

He said: “It’s 11 years since we’ve lost Hollie, and during that time we have made some progress, but it’s the old adage of two steps forward, one step back.

“And the problem is not going away.

“We’re treading water, I think, in that respect, and there’s lots of pressures around at the moment, particularly for young men, with some of the role models that are out there, which are maybe a negative role model.

“So it’s about trying to educate young people in particular, about what domestic abuse is, what stalking is, so that we can prevent individuals from becoming perpetrators.”

Mr Gazzard, from Longlevens in Gloucestershire, added: “But we can also actually get to victims when they’re young, because they might not identify that they’re being stalked or that they’ve been stalked, or they’re being abused, because sometimes it can be very subtle in how it’s done.

“So the younger we can talk to individuals, the more education we get out of there.

The Government has a target of reducing violence against women and girls by 50% over the next 10 years. That's a hell of a challenge, and there's no silver bullet

“Hopefully, we can prevent more people going through what Hollie went through.”

Addressing the Government’s commitment to tackling gender-based violence, with a 2024 report by the National Police Chiefs’ Council describing the issue as a “national emergency”, Mr Gazzard said: “The Government has a target of reducing violence against women and girls by 50% over the next 10 years.

“That’s a hell of a challenge, and there’s no silver bullet.

“They’ve got to involve all the agencies: Department of Health, the NHS, the MoJ (Ministry of Justice) – all these departments have to come together to actually have a co-ordinated approach to preventing violence against women.”

Miss Gazzard was murdered, aged 20, four days after she ended her year-long relationship with her partner, during which she suffered repeated violence at his hands.

The trust created in her name after her death focuses on prevention, education and raising awareness of domestic abuse and stalking.

Mr Gazzard, who was made an OBE in the New Year Honours, said: “It’s a real honour to receive this on behalf of those individuals who are victims and survivors of domestic abuse and stalking, because we know how devastating it can be when you lose someone.

“Obviously that all stems back to what happened to Hollie.

“We always said that we would have a legacy for Hollie, and we want to do good work in the area to try and prevent the Hollies of the future happening.”