Sarah Everard: A Call To Action

(Allegedly)

We'd like to think that as a society we'd do something simply because it's the right thing to do, but regrettably that is too often not the case. On the other hand, sometimes a single incident can trigger a wholly unanticipated mass response to a problem that previously hadn't been foremost in most people's minds. To give just a few examples:

    • The Dunblane school massacre, 25 years ago this month, caused around three quarters of a million people to sign the petition that ultimately led to the almost total prohibition of private ownership of hand guns in the UK - this in the days before convenient on-line petitions.
    • The murder of George Floyd by a US police officer triggered the international spread of the Black Lives Matter movement.
    • The exposure of the widespread sexual allegations against Harvey Weinstein in 2017 prompted the worldwide Me Too movement.

So it is with Sarah Everard, assaulted and murdered by (allegedly) a police officer. She was a young woman who just a fortnight ago would have had no idea that she was about to become a household name for the worst of reasons. Her brutal death and the disposal of her body in a builder's bag like unwanted rubbish has shocked many women to recount their own experiences. On Facebook alone, I have read accounts written by some of my female friends of almost routine sexual harassment, sexual assaults, domestic violence and even rape. 

Even though in my last job I was simultaneously an equal opportunities training officer for my employer and an equality and diversity spokesperson for my trade union, and while I have long been aware that such abuses occur, I've been somewhat taken aback by how prevalent they are.

Regrettably, the police response to the vigil opposing violence against women in Sarah's memory was misjudged and excessively heavy-handed. The sight of burly male police officers pinning down a young woman who had simply wanted to show solidarity with another young woman who had been assaulted and murdered was an extremely serious lapse in judgment.

Home Secretary Priti Patel expressed concern about the incident and demanded reports by the end of the day but undermined this prompt response by expressing full support for Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, thereby suggesting that she had already made up her mind concerning the incident and that anything else she said was mere tokenism.

The government's immediate response includes an additional £25 million for better lighting and CCTV as well as a pilot scheme which would see plain-clothes officers in pubs and clubs. While this funding will replace only a fraction of cuts imposed upon the police over the last decade, it's welcome as far as it goes but it's really no more than a pittance and doesn't address the heart of the problem: the danger to women does not come from the streets themselves, but from some of the men in them. CCTV and plain clothes police officers will not change the thinking of a single misogynist who regards women as commodities for their pleasure and convenience rather than autonomous fellow human beings entirely deserving of respect.

That last phrase would be patronising, except for the fact that there are males who simply don't view women that way; I've heard such sexists protest that they love women but therein lies the problem - a proprietorial view of women as creatures to be 'loved' often doesn't have much to do with respect.

Some men have already reacted with the slogan 'Not All Men', which is true but entirely misses the point in much the same way as the 'All Lives Matter' hashtag missed the point about Black Lives Matter. As some women have commented, men should not expect praise for not raping women in the park: such behaviour should be normal. 

I have read a couple of comments on Facebook that men are also often in danger on the streets: to a very limited extent this is true, but since the 1970s I have usually gone to the pub several times per week, and I always walk home on my own after closing time without any fear for own safety. I don't ever recall suffering harassment or worse, which is a distinct contrast to the worries and experiences reported by many women in response to Sarah Everard's murder. 

But going on from there, the problem is not confined to stranger danger. Many women have in the last week or so been recounting casual sexist comments, usually passed off as a joke, through to sexual assaults, both in workplaces and in social and domestic situations. If a woman objects, she is often accused of having no sense of humour, exaggerating or of being a ranting Leftie Women's Libber. In other words, it's her fault. 

I don't dismiss any of the accounts that I've been reading. As a male, I myself have been on the receiving end of domestic violence, on-line harassment and actual stalking in the real world and I know how hard it is to 'come out' and recount your experiences. As I wrote on my own blog in June last year:

During the height of the 'Me Too' movement, I became sick of reading comments by people - mostly but not exclusively male - asking why it had taken so long for some of the accusers to tell their stories, with more than a few sarcastically suggesting the motive was money. I was so incensed by such stupidity that I 'came out' myself in a post on Facebook about my own experiences of being on the receiving end of sustained domestic violence. In response to anyone who questioned why it had taken some of these women perhaps 10 or 15 years to come forward, I pointed that my own 'coming out' had taken nearly 40 years.

Some of the experiences reported by female friends of mine were distinctly worse than what happened to me. 

I do not claim to have all the answers, but ultimately education must be a large part of the response, more than the money allocated for improved lighting and CCTV which, while helpful, is no more than a sticking plaster solution. Education in the broadest sense: not just in schools but across all society. It's a huge, long-term task, but then so are the problems that we're trying to address. If we wish to create a safer society for women, we have to make that substantial commitment, otherwise our sympathy is no more than lip service.

Nothing can compensate for the loss of Sarah Everard, but I do hope the vehement and heartfelt response to her death will not be a flash in the pan, forgotten as soon as the headlines diminish. It would suit the Establishment for the issue to fade away, thus letting it off the hook in terms of addressing the deep-rooted problems associated with the attitudes of too many men towards women in our society. It rests with ordinary people, women and men, to ensure that that doesn't happen.