Time to turn the heat on predators

THE murder of Sarah Everard has left women across Britain feeling hurt and angry.

Women should be able to walk the streets without fear, yet they can’t.

As Sarah’s murder shows, women’s lives are restricted daily by the threat of male violence.

From an early age, women are taught to adapt their behaviour, assess risks and plan around them.

They can’t walk a dimly lit street, jog through a park after sunset or meander in an isolated woodland – even during the day.

Travelling home after a night out takes forethought and consideration of different options.

Perhaps catching an earlier, busier train or a cab for the shortest of journeys.

Women employ tricks to stay safe. They pretend to take a phone call or keep a friend on the line until they are at their door.

They are hyper-alert, conscious of people and dark corners, mentally preparing to scream or run.

They may share their location so friends can track them and it is routine to text when they arrive home.

Yesterday, Labour MP Jess Phillips read out the names of 118 women and girls killed by men in the UK this year.

She was right to say our society has “just accepted” dead women as “one of those things”.

But the onus must not be placed on women to mitigate against the threat of attack or to be “more careful”.

It is time to flip the conversation and focus on how we stop predatory and violent men from terrorising women.

Until we tackle the behaviours of the perpetrators instead of their victims, more women like Sarah will suffer.