Another Sarah Everard murder WILL happen as women ‘still aren’t safe on the streets’, warns Reclaim These Streets
ACTIVISTS have warned that nothing has changed since the death of Sarah Everard – with women still feeling “at risk” on the streets of London.
The capital has been rocked by the senseless murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and Sarah – with fears another woman could be murdered in a random attack.
All three women were killed by men who were strangers to them, with the Met Police coming under fire for their handling of both cases.
Co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, Anna Birley told the Sun: “I think that the past few months have reminded women that the normal feeling of being afraid when you walk around after dark shouldn’t be normal.
“So, whether or not incidents go up when lockdown fully eases, I think women will be much more conscious of the steps they’re taking, and don’t want to have to take to keep themselves safe.
“I think the fact that I’m yet to find a woman who hasn’t at some point felt unsafe or being harassed in a public place, tells us that.
“Whether or not they’re going to be kidnapped on their way home, they feel at risk, and therefore we need to do something to change that.
“Safety isn’t just about preventing the absolutely worst crime.
“It’s also about feeling comfortable in a space you can’t, you might be safe in the strictest sense of the term outside the local bar where men regularly call and make sexualized comments but you don’t feel comfortable.
“It doesn’t feel like women have ownership of that space. So part of what we want to do is say, actually, those are spaces we wish to reclaim: those public spaces should be ones which women take back ownership of.”
Whether or not they’re going to be kidnapped on their way home, they feel at risk.
Anna Birley
Following Sarah’s murder hundreds of women came forward to share their own personal stories of harassment and abuse.
Dozens of protests for make women’s safety a priority took place, with some breaking out in violence after activists clashed with officers at the time of her murder.
Reclaim These Streets have organised a vigil for Bibaa and Nicole, along with their mother Mina, tonight to mark a year since their deaths.
In May Met Police chief Cressida Dick admitted that London’s streets are still not safe for women and girls.
Her confession came after London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he felt that women were not protected on the streets of the capital.
She said that she “broadly agreed” with him, before adding: “I have been dealing with violence against women and girls a core part of my service, as a woman as well, since I joined.
“I care deeply about this. I absolutely understand that many women feel fearful.
“I would like them to be very much safer. I wouldn’t put it as strong as Sadiq Khan. I would say the streets are not completely safe for everybody all of the time.”
Tragic Sarah was snatched by PC Wayne Couzens as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, South West London, on March 3.
She had to be identified by dental records after her body was found in a builder’s bag, a court heard.
Couzens, 48, has admitted kidnapping and murdering the 33-year-old after she vanished, despite initially claiming it wasn’t him.
Sisters Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were brutally killed by Danyal Hussein while celebrating Bibaa’s birthday with pals.
The 19-year-old stabbed the women multiple times at Fryent Country Park, North West London, as part of a satanic sacrifice ritual.
He was found guilty of their deaths earlier this year, after a court heard that he murdered the sister as part of a blood pact with a demon to win the lottery.
‘THEY HAVE FAILED’
Reclaim These Streets also organised a vigil for Sarah at the time of her death, which sparked a series of protests.
Dame Cressida Dick previously face calls for her to resign over officer’s handling of Sarah’s vigil, when she defended her officer’s heavy handed tactics.
Photos and video of police breaking up the vigil on Clapham Common in March sparked outrage – but she refused to quit despite the calls.
Anna added: “I think that sexism, racism, and a lack of transparency is a cultural problem in the Met but probably in a lot of police forces around the country.
“It comes from the very top. Many organizations have that cultural problem and its leadership is failing until it tackles and deals with that culture.
“We think that leadership in the Metropolitan Police had failed, and we don’t think that Cressida Dick should have her contract renewed. That doesn’t fix the problem.
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“We want there to be comprehensive anti-sexism and anti-racism training in the police. We don’t think it’s right that the police marks their own homework and we want there to be stronger mechanisms for police accountability.
“Being a woman doesn’t make you a feminist, Cressida Dick is evidence of that.
“You need to have a bigger qualification and think about your agenda to change the culture in the Met. She’s had plenty of opportunities to do so and she’s failed.”