Asbestos and women: The hidden killer

Each year, around 400 women die from mesothelioma caused by asbestos in the UK, yet the majority were not directly exposed to the deadly fibres through their work. So, what is responsible for this toll? Becky Spencer investigates.

Earlier this year, a commemorative Blue Plaque was unveiled on the side of an unassuming terraced house in Leeds. The plaque marks the life and campaigning of June Hancock, who died in 1997 aged 61 from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Two years’ earlier in October 1995, June had won a landmark legal victory against Turner and Newall, the owners of the former JW Roberts asbestos factory in Armley, Leeds close to where she grew up as a child. It was the first compensation case to be brought against a company by a mesothelioma sufferer who had not worked directly with asbestos. June’s legal team successfully argued that Turner and Newall should be held responsible for the environmental exposure to asbestos suffered by June and other residents living close to the factory. June was awarded compensation and her case, and continued campaigning, paved the way for many more asbestos victims like her to obtain justice.

Over 25 years since June Hancock’s death, her legacy is an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of asbestos and to seek justice for those exposed to it. The charity set up in her name, the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund, funds vital research into the causes and treatment of mesothelioma, a disease which killed 2,268 people in 2021, according to the latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 401 of which were women.