Let's talk about women's safety, says Sarah Everard's mourner

Grief and rage over the murder of Londoner Sarah Everard should be channelled into efforts to stop men’s violence against women, not into political arguments about police tactics at a vigil, one of the women arrested at the event said on Monday.

Everard, 33, was abducted as she walked home in south London on March 3 and a police officer has been charged with her kidnap and murder, provoking a national debate over how British society deals with male violence against women.

Also read: UK police crackdowns vigil for murdered woman

But the political focus shifted onto London’s Metropolitan Police after officers trying to disperse a vigil for Everard that breached Covid-19 lockdown rules scuffled with mourners and dragged women away in handcuffs on Saturday.

Patsy Stevenson - who was pictured being pinned to the ground, handcuffed and arrested by male officers in dramatic images that became a lightning rod for anger against the police - said on Monday she was dismayed at the turn of events.

“I accidentally went viral. I didn’t want this to happen. This happened like a whirlwind,” she said on Sky News.

“I’ve been thrown into the public eye and the only way I can make this not in vain is to not make it political, not against the police. It’s just about the safety of women and we need to talk about it,” she said.

An estimated 85,000 women are raped and more than 400,000 sexually assaulted in England and Wales each year, with only a tiny fraction of incidents leading to criminal convictions.

The most recent figures showed the conviction rate per rape allegation recorded by the police was 2.6%, a record low.

On Monday, the media focus was on whether the head of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, should resign over Saturday’s ugly scenes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he had full confidence in London’s police chief.

“The fundamental issue that we have to address as a country, as a society, as government, is that women must feel ... that when they make serious complaints about violence, about assault, that they are properly heard and properly addressed,” he said.

'A male problem'

Since Everard’s disappearance, many women have taken to social media to recount their own experiences of harassment and assault on Britain’s streets and to demand change.

One of the factors that turned the case into a rallying cry for women was the fact that police advised women near the spot where Everard went missing to stay at home for their own safety. This enraged many women who said the onus should be on men to change their behaviour, not on women to give up their freedoms.

White Ribbon UK, a charity that aims to end violence against women and girls by engaging with men and boys, was calling on them to make a stand in the wake of Everard’s murder.

“It must not fall on women to have to change how they go about their lives because of the fear and the risk of violence. This is a male problem and men must be the ones to take ownership,” said Peter Lassey, chair of White Ribbon UK.

A protest is due to take place on Parliament Square later on Monday under the banner “End Violence Against Women”.

But one of Everard’s friends, Helena Edwards, said the case had been “hijacked” by people with an agenda.

“Sarah was a victim of one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. She was extremely unlucky - that is all there is to it,” Edwards wrote in a blog, adding that if the suspect was found guilty, she would hold him alone responsible.