The Case of Sarah Everard: London Abduction Brings Wave of Women's Safety Concerns

(Cross posting from GD https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215225406 )

The abduction and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard has unleashed a torrent of concern over women’s safety in London and the rest of the U.K., with thousands of women recounting their own stories of harassment in a fresh upsurge in support for the #MeToo movement.

Ms. Everard went missing after leaving a friend’s apartment in south London on March 3, triggering a police search across southeast England. On Friday, police confirmed that remains found in a wooded area southeast of the capital were hers and that an officer with London’s Metropolitan Police, 48-year-old Wayne Couzens, had been arrested and charged with Ms. Everard’s kidnapping and murder. Mr. Couzens, whose duties included guarding embassies, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, nor could it be determined if he had any legal representation.

The case has struck a nerve in Britain, in part because Ms. Everard had done many of things women are often advised to do to ensure their safety. She wore bright, visible clothing when she left her friend’s apartment in Clapham at 9 p.m. for a walk home to Brixton that should have taken 50 minutes at most. She had called another friend to say she was on her way. And she had stuck to well-lit main roads. Yet she was abducted—and, investigators suspect, by a policeman.

Many women have shared their own experiences of being harassed or feeling unsafe walking city streets. Some described wearing comfortable shoes in case they had to break into a run or pretending to be engaged in a loud phone call to deter potential attackers. Others told how wedging keys between their knuckles had become second nature, so as to inflict as much damage as possible if they needed to strike out in hopes of buying enough time to get away safely.

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A group called Reclaim the Streets planned a vigil for Ms. Everard in London on Saturday evening, but canceled it after the High Court declined to overrule a police warning that it would contravene Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Similar gatherings were planned elsewhere in the country. Opposition Labour Party lawmaker Harriet Harman was one of many people who had planned to attend, though it is unclear whether the event would still proceed in some other form.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/sarah-everard-abduction-in-london-brings-wave-of-safety-concerns-from-u-k-women-11615571627 (subscription)