Walking alone on the streets of fear
Ex-Corrie star talks of experiences and makes a call for change
MELISSA Johns has shared her experiences of feeling unsafe following the death of Sarah Everard.
The former Coronation Street star is just one of thousands of women who have detailed uncomfortable and often terrifying experiences at the hands of men in recent weeks.
Melissa, who played the character Imogen Pascoe, says she’s found herself feeling frightened when walking in Greater Manchester alone.
She describes how that fear has become normalised in society - and how simple phrases like ‘be careful’ end up placing the responsibility on victims, rather than addressing the behaviour of perpetrators.
“The worst thing about reading that headline [on Everard] is I didn’t feel shocked, that’s the hardest thing to digest,” Melissa told the Manchester Evening News.
The actress, 30, who recently played Hannah Taylor in BBC’s hit drama Life, was born without her right forearm and feels her disability adds another layer to her vulnerability.
“As someone with one arm,
I can’t help but think if someone is looking at me, does it look like I wouldn’t be able to get away from them?” she said.
“It’s something I’ve thought quite often and something my parents have thought, which is why they were overprotective and still are. When you have a disability, what the media shows us, TV, films, is that disabled people, especially women, are weak and vulnerable and need saving.
“In the same breath, we are not desirable and on the same wavelength, are only good when we’re being fetishised. It’s a hard one to compute and we’re never at the centre of our own story.”
Sarah Everard, 33, was walking home from a friend’s house on March 3 just after 9pm when she vanished from the streets of Clapham in London. Her body was later found and serving police officer Wayne Couzens has been charged with her murder.
Just the other day, Melissa was walking her puppy in Salford and found herself in the deepest part of a field, alone, and began to panic.
“It’s very open, but I realised very quickly it was later than I’d normally walk, there weren’t many people around and I was the furthest point I could be from the main road,” she said.
“I went through the thought processes - I started to walk faster, which turned it into a bit of a jog.
“Like so many women, it’s embedded in my thinking, and it’s only when something happens, you then realise, so do other people think like that?”
“When I get into my car, I genuinely do check the back seat. It’s hit really hard,” she adds.
Melissa believes the arts and particularly TV, can make a powerful change to reflect the world we live in - as seen with more representation of those with disabilities and with soaps covering storylines that address societal issues.
“We know there isn’t a shortage in TV shows of ‘girl went missing,’ ‘girl murdered,’” Melissa says.
“But a different narrative will encourage and empower people to think a bit differently rather than what they’ve always been given.”
The actress says she has been groped in clubs countless times and been followed off the tube in London on her way to an audition. Another unforgettable experience was when her phone was hacked in 2018, with her intimate images plastered to porn sites.
“I’ve caught myself talking to friends saying ‘I’ve been touched in clubs, hasn’t everyone?’” Melissa says.
“It speaks volumes that I didn’t even think it worthy of a conversation. It’s happened to every friend I know. All of the things that have happened leave a blueprint on you.”
Melissa hopes the murder of Sarah Everard will elevate the conversation on gendered violence and the effect it has on women’s lives.
“It’s about protecting daughters but also teaching our sons,” she said. “The two things can co-exist.
“If someone doesn’t want to be educated, they won’t be. And that’s the biggest thing, the willingness to listen and learn. Women are just asking to be able to go on a walk in the same way a man can.”
I can’t help but think if someone is looking at me, does it look like I wouldn’t be able to get away?
Melissa Johns