Our thoughts are very much with Sarah Everard’s family and friends at this time. The sentencing of Wayne Couzens does not mitigate the trauma and the shockwaves this horrific crime has created. The recent murder of Sabina Nessa is also uppermost in our thoughts – another young woman walking alone at night attacked and killed by a predatory male stalker. This epidemic of male violence has to end, both on our streets and in our homes.
As a pan-London VAWG charity we would like to see the recommendations laid out in the recent HMICFRS Police report into violence against women and girls enacted. We ask that the response to male violence is prioritized in the same way that terrorism is and call for the police to undertake a culture review to root out the misogyny that clearly exists within it. But police action alone will not be enough – male violence is a societal issue and we are calling for immediate and substantive change at every level. Enough is enough.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said his Government will “do everything possible to prevent these abhorrent crimes”. He has an opportunity to do just that with the forthcoming budget and three-year spending review. Women will be watching on the 27 October.
RIP Sarah, Sabina, Nicole, Bibaa, Julia and the many other women recently killed by men – sadly too many to name.