Kate Holton and Ben Makori
London - Women in Britain poured out their fears and anger over how unsafe they feel walking the streets after the disappearance of a woman in London and the arrest of a police officer on suspicion of her kidnap and murder.
Sarah Everard, 33, was last seen at 9:30pm on March 3 as she walked home from a friend's house in south London. Her image, smiling at the camera or caught on CCTV that evening, has been splashed across British newspapers all week.
Anxiety turned to grief after news late on Wednesday that police investigating Everard's disappearance had found remains in a wood outside of London, resulting in an outpouring of personal accounts by women of their own experiences and fears.
"The disappearance of Sarah and the absolute tragedy around that has really touched a nerve with a lot of women," said Anna Birley, 31, one of the organisers of a planned "Reclaim These Streets" vigil to honour Everard and demand change.
"We feel really angry that it's an expectation put on women that we need to change our behaviour to stay safe. The problem isn't women, the problem is that women aren't safe on our streets," said Birley.
Women flooded social media with posts about the steps they take when out alone at night to keep safe, including clutching keys to use as a weapon and wearing trainers to help them run. Many raged at the violence against women that made them feel they had to take such measures.
Others detailed a catalogue of incidents of harassment by men in public over the decades since they were schoolgirls.
Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man’s footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road. It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) March 11, 2021
Her name was Sarah. She deserved to walk home that night. It was her right. Her name was Sarah. #SarahEverard
— Dr. Jennifer Cassidy (@OxfordDiplomat) March 11, 2021
This is too true 💔 #SarahEverard #ReclaimTheNight #ReclaimTheseStreets pic.twitter.com/TqhhGHxuWv
— ig: @kabukirune (@KabukiRune) March 10, 2021
Member of parliament Jess Phillips, the opposition Labour Party's policy chief on domestic violence, read out in the chamber of the House of Commons the names of all 118 women murdered by men in the United Kingdom last year. It took her more than four minutes to read the list.
"The message that needs to be sent is that male violence is something that has to be tackled and challenged and the justice system and society has to wake up to that," said Phillips.
The head of London's police force, Cressida Dick, said she and her colleagues were "utterly appalled" at news that a police officer had been arrested in connection with Everard's abduction, speaking of a wave of shock and anger.
She sought to reassure women, saying it was "incredibly rare" for a woman to be abducted from the streets.
"But I completely understand that despite this, women in London and the wider public, particularly those in the area where Sarah went missing, will be worried and may well be feeling scared," said Dick.
The arrested officer, whose job is to guard diplomatic buildings, is suspected of kidnap, murder and indecent exposure, while a woman in her 30s has also been detained on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was shocked and deeply saddened by developments in the case.
The "Reclaim These Streets" vigil will take place on Saturday on Clapham Common, near the place where Everard was last seen.