OUR PROMISE ON WOMEN’S SAFETY
‘Hopeless Tories treat violence as inevitable’
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BRITAIN has become “desensitised to stories about dead women”, Labour’s Yvette Cooper warned yesterday as she unveiled the party’s plans to keep them safe.
The Shadow Home Secretary said governments have treated violence against women and girls as an inevitability, rather than “the emergency that it is”.
She added too many are being let down by the police and the criminal justice system.
And she said: “We are sick and tired of women and girls facing the same threats of violence and abuse, generation after generation. Enough is enough. “
Ms Cooper cited the horrific cases of Sarah Everard and Raneem Oudeh.
Sarah was abducted in Clapham, London, in
March 2021 by police officer Wayne Couzens who then raped and murdered the
33-year-old.
A vigil held in her memory during lockdown was marred after police made several arrests.
Raneem, 22, called the police four times on the night she and her mum Khaola Salim, were murdered. They were stabbed to death in Solihull, West Mids, in 2018 by Raneem’s ex, Janbaz Tarin.
Ms Cooper said: “After Sarah was killed, women across the country demanded action, but too little has changed.
“After Raneem was killed, we expected major overhauls in policing and the criminal justice system, but barely anything was done.
“The passive response from the Government to these terrible crimes is hopeless.” Labour’s five-point plan would deliver specialist training to every police officer.
And Rape and Serious Sexual Offences units would be rolled out to every police force in the country. The party also pledged to introduce “Raneem’s Law” to overhaul the speed of police responses to reports of crimes, with specialists in 999 control rooms to spot warning signs early.
Labour also pledged “relentless pursuit” of dangerous perpetrators, beefed-up standards and vetting for police officers, and more support for victims as they go through the courts.
Ms Cooper said: “A Labour Government will treat this epidemic with the seriousness and urgency it deserves – overhauling every aspect of society’s response to these heinous crimes, starting with policing and the criminal justice system.
“With a Labour Government, the police will be asked to strain every sinew and use every tool in their arsenal to pursue dangerous perpetrators who pose a risk to women and to keep victims safe from harm.
“Missed opportunities cost lives and far too many have already been lost.”
‘‘ We are sick and tired of women and girls facing the same threats generation after generation