London – The protests against gender-based violence continued in London on Monday as hundreds from outside Parliament marched across the city shouting “united sisters will never be defeated”, “justice for Sarah” and “kill the bill”.
“We don’t just want overpolice and more police officers abusing their powers against women, we want actual action,” said Jennifer, 25. “We want money spent on women’s services, we want a cultural change that protects women and fights against them. misogyny and violence. “
The demonstration follows two days of protests sparked by the death of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, whose body was found last week after she went missing while walking home at night through well-lit London streets. The man accused of murdering Everard is a police officer who was reported for indecent exposure just days before Everard’s death.
Activists had initially filed for a socially aloof Saturday vigil, but permission for the vigil was denied as the UK is currently under a national coronavirus lockdown. That didn’t stop hundreds of people, mostly women, from appearing in a park near where Everard was last seen in South London. After about an hour, police forcibly entered the peaceful crowd and eventually arrested four people, two of whom were teenagers.
The protests have also exposed the actions of the London Metropolitan Police, which officials, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, have criticized and reinforced calls for pending national legislation that civil liberty groups say the increase police power to curtail protests that should be dropped.
Fears of not being able to demonstrate if the legislation is passed prompted a number of people and groups to join Monday’s protest.
“It may be our last chance to express our views with freedom of expression,” said 19-year-old Haley, who noted Black Lives Matter and climate activists Extinction Rebellion released Monday.
“We try to say everything before we get silenced,” she said.
Everard’s murder has sparked a national debate on violence against women and how it is being treated in the UK. Britain is currently experiencing a record number of rape prosecutions, despite an exponential increase in the number of reports of rape in recent years.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a meeting of the government’s crime and justice task force on Monday to discuss its strategy against violence against women and why rape prosecutions are so low. Britain’s police commissioners would also hold an emergency meeting on this topic.
Anger quickly grew over the way police handled the demonstration on Saturday, and thousands took to the streets of central London on Sunday in protest.
“We learned one thing this weekend: the right to protest, the right to assemble, the right to a vote is fundamental to our democracy, and British democracy in particular,” former Chief Sir Peter Fahy told a local. radio station. . “You really have to be wary of any more legislation being passed just because certain politicians didn’t like certain summer demonstrations,” he said.
HANNAH MCKAY / REUTERS
“I think it’s outrageous that the police, the Metropolitan Police, who killed Sarah – they killed her – and they tell us we can’t, we don’t have permission to show solidarity. They killed her,” The 26- year-old Alexandra told CBS News during the demonstration on Saturday night.
“We’ve all experienced some kind of sexual assault or some kind of assault or feeling unsafe and that’s enough,” Sarah, 32, also told CBS News during the Saturday night vigil. “This must be a turning point so that we don’t accept feeling scared and intimidated and that we can live our lives as freely as our male counterparts can.”