Ribbons, notes and candles in poignant tributes to Sarah
THOUSANDS of people across Scotland have paid tribute to Sarah Everard, lighting candles at home and tying ribbons to park fences.
After planned vigils by Reclaim These Streets were moved online, event organisers in Glasgow asked people to leave their tributes at locations around the city.
A small number of people gathered to light candles at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, but Police Scotland said they left shortly afterwards.
The Scottish Government had warned that any vigil in a public place would go against coronavirus restrictions.
Chloe Whyte, who organised a vigil for Miss Everard in Edinburgh, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday morning.
She said organisers did not want to be responsible for women who attended in-person vigils potentially being fined for breaking lockdown rules.
Miss Whyte said: ‘This is only getting bigger and bigger.
Regardless of what the police or the law have to say about our vigils, women will not be silenced. We will be taking to the streets as soon as it is legal and safe to do so.’
A number of people were at Holyrood over the weekend to lay flowers and light candles. Among placards placed outside the building were ones reading ‘End Femicide’ and others calling for legislation.
In Glasgow, Reclaim These
Streets organisers asked people to tie ribbons and leave notes in a show of solidarity at four locations in the city – George Square, Kelvingrove Park, Queen’s Park and the Mary Barbour statue in Govan.
Meanwhile, on Saturday evening, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined thousands on social media who shared an image of a single candle in memory of Miss Everard. Miss Sturgeon also shared a photo of a note left on the gates at Queen’s Park paying tribute to Moira Jones, who was raped and murdered after being dragged into the park as she returned home from a night out in 2008.
The note read: ‘For Moira Jones, who I think of every time I walk through this park.
‘We will fight to make a better world.’
The First Minister wrote on Twitter: ‘Struck by this photo from the gates of Queen’s Park tonight. The park is in the heart of my constituency and I, too, think of Moira every time I walk through or around it.’
Game of Thrones actress Kate Dickie, from East Kilbride, Lanarkshire posted a photo of a candle, while Scots singer Annie Lennox retweeted a message from organisation The Circle, highlighting a World Health Organisation report that estimates ‘one in three women experiences sexual or physical abuse during their lifetime’.
In an interview with Andrew Marr on his BBC show yesterday, Trainspotting actress Kelly MacDonald quoted author Margaret Atwood when asked for her opinion on the issue.
She said: ‘I’ve always been nervous about leaving the house at night. If I needed milk and it was dark I would rather wait for the morning than go to the local shop.’
Miss MacDonald added: ‘Margaret Atwood had a quote, “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them – women are afraid that men will kill them.”’
‘Fight to make a better world’