MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2021) The death of Sarah Everard has gripped the United Kingdom and two prominent female lawyers told Sputnik that the country's victim-blaming culture needed to be eroded to restore women's faith in law enforcement and the justice system.
Everard, 33 years of age, vanished as she walked home from a friend's house in the London region of Clapham at approximately 21:30 GMT on March 3. Police officials one week later confirmed that they had discovered Everard's remains in an area of Kent woodland.
Wayne Couzens, a Metropolitan Police officer, was first arrested in connection with Everard's disappearance on March 9 and was subsequently charged with her kidnap and murder. Couzens, who is being held at London's Belmarsh prison, appeared in court on Tuesday and is set to attend a plea hearing on July 9.
Everard's death has led to subsequent questions over women's safety and trust in the police. Lawmakers, who are under pressure to take action following her death, have pledged to bring in new measures to tackle gender-based violence.
PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR CULTURE CHANGE
During Wednesday's session of prime minister's questions in the House of Commons, Boris Johnson said that the United Kingdom needed a "change in our culture" to tackle violence against women and girls.
Several prominent social movements, including the Everyone's Invited initiative, which was founded by Soma Sara, have urged the UK to tackle "rape culture," defined as the attitudes, behaviors, or thoughts that normalize and trivialize sexual violence.
This sentiment was shared by Natalie Marrison, the head of abuse law at UK-based law firm Ramsdens Solicitors, who told Sputnik that more needed to be done to erode the country's victim-blaming culture that results in women being expected to alter their behaviors and actions to protect themselves.
"Until the victim-blaming culture is eroded completely, the conversation will rage on. There are only so many extra police officers or streetlights at our disposal - a culture change is needed," Marrison told Sputnik.
Labour leader Keir Starmer, also speaking in parliament on Wednesday, said that nine out of 10 women and girls who are subjected to sexual violence do not feel confident enough to come forward and report the crime, and Paula Rhone-Adrien, a prominent family law barrister, told Sputnik that more needed to be done to restore women's faith in the justice system.
"We know that the reporting statistics of abuse against females is wholly inaccurate due to its underreporting, why? Because females do not believe that the system is there to protect them, that in fact, the system simply dismisses it, or at worse, perpetuates the trauma for the female and her family," Rhone-Adrien said.
The barrister added that the death of Everard was a stark reminder of the everyday threats women and girls face on the streets of the United Kingdom.
"The horrific loss of Sarah Everard's life succinctly encapsulates the everyday threats females face in the UK. Every female when venturing on to the street, day or night, automatically knows they must take precautions, but that sometimes, those precautions are not enough to protect you," Rhone-Adrien said.
The law enforcement officer arrested over the alleged murder of Sarah Everard was also reported to the police 72 hours before she disappeared, as Couzens was accused of indecent exposure in a restaurant in south London.
According to Rhone-Adrien, the failure to take Couzens into custody over this incident showed that there was little in place to protect women on the streets of the United Kingdom.
"The fact that the alleged accused is said to have been reported for flashing, and nothing had been done to implement a strategy of safety for women in the area other than to suggest that they should be the ones who remained behind locked doors, is indicative of the approach taken by our patriarchal society: namely; the victim is to blame for placing themselves in what some may consider to be a dangerous situation (just walking down the street), and not, why was a criminal, who was a clear threat to females, allowed to walk the streets so freely," the barrister said.
WOMEN TAKE TO STREETS IN REMEMBRANCE
On Saturday, hundreds gathered on Clapham Common, near the site of Everard's disappearance, to hold a vigil after her death was announced.
Metropolitan Police officers stepped in to break up the vigil, citing a breach of COVID-19 social distancing regulations, and four people were reportedly detained. Photos of the arrests, showing women being held on the ground as they were handcuffed by male officers, quickly spread across social media.
"The police have been caused to review and react to what have been unprecedented times. Their recent reaction at Clapham has caused public outrage. As always we must take a step back and consider arguments from all parties involved," Natalie Marrison said.
Law enforcement officials had issued a ban on the vigil, and Paula Rhone-Adrien said that the event could have passed without disturbance had the police allowed the event to go ahead.
"I think the police were hung out to dry and placed in an impossible position by the government's failure to exercise its discretion and sensitively permit a marshalled event. If [Home Secretary] Priti Patel had done this, then the risk assessed vigil could have gone ahead safely, leaving the police and all those attending with a clear understanding of what was permitted during this tiring pandemic," she said.
The organizers of the vigil, a movement named Reclaim These Streets, have this week called on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign, saying that they have no confidence in her ability to protect UK women and girls from abuse and violence.
Boris Johnson has publicly backed the police chief, saying that he has "full confidence" in her ability to lead the Metropolitan Police. Dick herself has said that she is not considering her position following the police response to Saturday's vigil.
NEW POLICING BILL PASSES PARLIAMENT, SIGNALLING CRACKDOWN ON PROTEST
UK lawmakers in the House of Commons on Tuesday passed the second reading of the government's new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is set to give law enforcement chiefs greater powers to crack down on protests.
As part of the proposed new measures, law enforcement officials would be able to set noise limits on protests and enforce start and finish times for demonstrations.
Additionally, following the Black Lives Matter protests of the preceding summer, the new legislation would see individuals who damage statues face up to 10 years in prison.
The Labour leader has been fiercely critical of the new policing bill, claiming that the legislation would see rapists given more lenient prison sentences than those who damage statues, and hundreds of people rallied near the Houses of Parliament on Monday evening in protest against the bill.
Barrister Rhone-Adrien said that the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was an attempt to stifle protest in the United Kingdom.
"My response to some of the government's proposed policing law changes is one of horror and dismay. The proposed changes, such as the imposition of a maximum noise level for protests or criminalizing protests that inhibited others are a blatant attempt to restrict the right to protest," she said.
Natalie Marrison of Ramsdens Solicitors said that residents should respect the justice and policing system in the United Kingdom, but the lawyer also raised issue with the government's apparent plan to give vandals longer prison sentences than rapists.
"On the face of it, prison sentences being longer for defacing a statue over that of a rapist can't be right. The law has however been set and we are under lockdown rules which must be adhered to, if not why have any justice or policing system?" Marrison commented.
As the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Sarah Everard's death continues, pressure groups and female lawmakers remain steadfast in exerting pressure on the government to ensure the safety of women and girls.
In a House of Commons debate on March 8 to mark International Women's Day, Labour lawmaker Jess Phillips read out the Names of 118 women who had been killed by men over the preceding year, and the government has already pledged to take "immediate steps" by improving street lighting and video surveillance systems.
Further measures are expected in the coming weeks and months to stimulate the "culture change" that the prime minister, and other prominent officials such as Priti Patel, have called for.
