Sarah Everard: London vigil organised to 'reclaim' city's streets
A vigil to make streets and other public spaces safer for women has been organised for this weekend after Sarah Everard’s disappearance in south London.
The vigil, titled Reclaim These Streets, will take place on Clapham Common bandstand at 6pm on Saturday, near where Everard was last seen as she made her way home to Brixton last week.
The 33-year-old marketing executive vanished after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham at about 9pm on Wednesday and beginning a 50-minute walk home.
A serving Metropolitan police officer has been arrested for her suspected kidnapping and murder, and investigators searching for her found human remains in woodland in Ashford, Kent. The remains have not yet been identified. A woman was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Since Everard went missing, social media has been flooded with women sharing their own experiences of constant safety fears when out in public, particularly at night, as well as advice for men on ways to help prevent this.
The event’s Facebook page states that the vigil is for and about all women who have felt unsafe, and is open to all. Attenders are invited to “bring a light to remember those we’ve lost”.
Organisers said: “It’s wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently. Women are not the problem.
“We’ve all been following the tragic case of Sarah Everard over the last week. This is a vigil for Sarah, but also for all women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day.”
Attenders are told they must observe social distancing and wear a mask, and are also encouraged to use the NHS contact-tracing app.
A silent vigil was held outside New Scotland Yard on Wednesday as police gave an update on the investigation.
Everard’s disappearance has felt overwhelmingly close to home for many women, who have shared their own personal experiences of sexual harassment, abuse and being made to feel scared and unsafe in public spaces.
Many have pointed out that this was often despite them having gone out of their way to be hyper-vigilant and avoid potentially unsafe situations, employing measures instilled in them since childhood. This includes updating friends when they have made it home, taking lengthy detours and sticking to well-lit streets, talking on the phone as a deterrent, clutching their keys, and wearing comfortable shoes in case they need to run.
It has spurred a conversation online about what men can do to be more effective allies to women, which prompted the sharing of tips on how men can change their behaviour so their presence does not make women feel uncomfortable.
Being active bystanders and intervening if someone looks uncomfortable, giving space and crossing the road, not blocking paths, and calling out problematic behaviour from their friends were among the suggestions for what men could do to help.
Better educating men and boys on these experiences was deemed significant if societal attitudes toward women’s safety were to change. One woman tweeted: “Sarah Everard did everything we, as women, are ‘meant’ to do. It’s stuff that we have to think about, but shouldn’t – main roads, bright clothes, calling loved ones. And it didn’t work, because we aren’t the issue.”
Another said: “The fact that basically every woman on here is freaked out because we all feel like we could have easily been Sarah Everard says it all really.”