More British women were killed though violence perpetrated by men last year than British troops killed in Afghanistan in the last three years.

The UK’s military role against the Taliban in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 99 members of the Army, RAF, Royal Marines and special forces since 2011 but 139 women in the UK were killed though men’s violence since last January.

The figures are highlighted in a campaign called “Counting Dead Women” launched by Karen Ingala Smith, the chief executive of Hackney-based women’s charity nia.

She wants to see a “fit-for-purpose record” of fatal male violence against women.

“Unless we have an accurate picture of what is going on and make connections between the different forms of sexist murders, we will not stop men killing women,” she said.

“When I started keeping the list, I was shocked and angry about the lack of attention given to the murders of women, and what feels like a refusal to look at the links between the different forms of men’s violence against women.”