In Honour of Sarah Everard

Jess Phillips (jess.phillips.mp@parliament.uk), the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, said (11/3/2021) that violence against women was an 'epidemic'. Since Sarah Everard had gone missing on (3/3/2021), six women and a little girl had been reported killed by violent men. In England, a woman is so killed every three days. Ms Phillips read out the names of 118 women, who had died since the last International Women's Day (8/3/2020). The Citizens' Assembly in Ireland said the same situation pertained there. The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said violence against women was 'endemic in every country and culture', and had been exacerbated by the Coronavirus Pandemic. UN figures show that 137 women across the world are killed every day by a partner or member of their own family - a total of 50,000 women are murdered every year by people they know and should be able to trust.

'Reclaim These Streets' is an English organisation founded by women who want to channel the collective grief, outrage and sadness arising from the death of Sarah Everard. Events were planned across the country, including a vigil on Clapham Common, to pay tribute to Sarah, who had disappeared while walking home in London. Her remains were found in Kent on 12/3/2021. A serving Metropolitan Police officer was charged with kidnapping and murdering the Marketing Executive.

Violence against women is an open sore in societies across the globe. The case of Sarah Everard directs attention to England, where information is coming to hand to indicate a level of moral disengagement. For example, in July of 2019, the London Victims' Commissioner, Claire Waxman, called for 'drastic' improvements in how rape victims are treated. Only 3% of allegations result in a conviction. The accused is known to the victim in the vast majority of cases.

For the Centre for Women's Justice, Harriet Wistrich explains this new charity was set up in 2016, to bring specialist lawyers, academics and other experts in the field of violence against women, together with those working on the frontline, as activists, survivors and service providers. According to a survey from UN Women UK, of women aged 18-24, 97% said they had been sexually harassed. 80% of women, of all ages, said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces - a human rights crisis.

The Trades Union Congress 'Everyday Sexism research'' that found 52% of women had experienced sexual harassment at work, and of the one in five who had reported it, 75% said nothing had changed, while 16% said they were treated worse as a result.

Maggie Oliver resigned from Greater Manchester Police, in 2012, so she could expose the Rochdale Grooming Scandal. In May 2012, 9 men (8 of Pakistani stock) were found guilty of child sex-grooming and 21 counts of sexual abuse over the period 2008 to 2010. Vulnerable girls, runaways or in the care of Social Services, were given drink and raped, in different places over a wide area. Similar cases occurred in Preston, Rotherham, Derby, Shropshire, Oxford, Telford and Middlesbrough. Maggie Oliver was an expert contributor to BBC documentaries on child grooming. Her work continues, as she fights for justice for survivors of sexual abuse. The Maggie Oliver Foundation was set up, with the focus on helping survivors to Transform Pain into Power.

Most European countries still do not recognize in law that sex without consent is rape. Amnesty International said, on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25/11/2018), that flawed legislation and a culture of victim-blaming was perpetuating impunity for rape across Europe. Only Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg and Sweden were noted as defining rape as sex without consent.

On 9/7/2021, with five members of her family and Met. Police Commissioner Cressida Dick present in court, Wayne Couzens pleaded guilty to Sarah Everard's murder when he appeared at the Old Bailey, via a video link, from Belmarsh high security jail. Couzens had kidnapped Sarah Everard as she walked home alone, from a friend's house, and he went on to rape and strangle the 33-year-old marketing executive.

Uniquely without any prejudice or bias, it sadly appears, the All Lives Institute advocates for justice for those vulnerable humans who are all too freely killed. Men, and it is mostly men, who are guilty of involvement in the ending innocent lives, should face dissuasive penalties. Selfish, collusive Groupthink, we must allow, will scarcely see this happen. Nil desperandum, dicemus.

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