Sarah Everard: London police chief faces calls to resign after officers stand guard over murdered woman

All day long, mourners attended the Clapham Common bandstand, an area where Everard had last been seen, as a tribute to her life. But they also came out of solidarity, in recognition of the shared, ubiquitous experience of harassment, violence and bullying that women in public places constantly face.

Less than an hour after the meeting began, agents moved in to inform people that they were in violation of Covid-19 regulations and had to leave. Subsequently, a predominantly male group of officers moved in, using containment and incarceration techniques – where officers surrounded protesters to keep them in a specific place, making social distance impossible – ordered people to leave, or arrested and fined.

As police officers forcibly removed women from the bandstand and had others arrested with their faces on the ground, those present chanted “Shame on you,” “Arrest your own,” and “Who are you protecting?”

In a statement on Sunday morning, the Met Police said they “absolutely did not want to be in a position that required enforcement action,” but that “we were put in this position because of the imperative need to protect people’s safety.”

Home Secretary Victoria Atkins spoke to a photo that is now viral of one of the women pinned by police officers on Sunday morning during an interview on Sky News, saying it is “ something the police will have to explain to the minister in that report. of the Interior. “

Atkins added that the “very disturbing scenes” were “taken very seriously” by the British government.

Her comments come up as videos keep surfacing on social media and news agencies, showing visitors struggling with the police.

Several British leaders over the divisions of the parties agreed that the police reacted disproportionately harshly.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter: “The scenes from Clapham Common are unacceptable. Police have a responsibility to enforce the Covid laws, but from footage I’ve seen it is clear that sometimes the response is inappropriate. neither proportionate, ”adding that he was. in contact with the Commissioner and “urgently looking for an explanation.”

Labor leader Keir Starmer called the scenes in Clapham “very disturbing”.

Women gathered to mourn Sarah Everard – they should have been able to do that peacefully, he said, adding that he shared their “anger and anger at how this was handled.”

“This was not the way to control this protest,” Starmer said.

Liberal Democrat Party leaders agreed and joined a growing chorus calling for the police commissioner to resign. “Cressida Dick has lost the trust of the millions of women in London and should resign,” said the Liberal Democrats, saying that the police of the vigil “was utterly disgraceful and the Metropolitan Police shamed.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said that “some” images circulating online were “disturbing” and said she had asked the Met for a “full report on what had happened”.

However, Patels’ comments unfold in a landscape that is increasingly hostile to dissenting voices – one that is disproportionately affecting marginalized communities, including women.

The Home Secretary has made no bones about her plans to address dissent, calling environmentalists “eco-crusaders turned criminals” intent on attacking a British way of life and calling the Black Lives Matter’s tactic protesters as “violence” in two. several speeches last fall.

And while Patel has said the government will always “defend the right to protest,” her actions suggest otherwise.

Protecting women

Meanwhile, according to Atkins, the government is conducting an “end-to-end” review of the criminal justice system, including changes to the conviction of serious and violent offenders.

The minister called the Domestic Abuse Act “ a landmark piece of legislation, ” which will initiate a “ conversation about abusive behavior and what we can do to support victims, as well as address perpetrators, ” she said, adding that the government invested ‘. unprecedented amounts “also in perpetrator programs.

But Jess Phillips, the British Home Secretary of the Shadow Home Office, said the government should “put their rhetoric into action,” noting that the bill is more about statues than women.

More than 70% of women polled by a new UN Women UK poll said they had experienced sexual harassment in public places. That figure rose to 97% among women ages 18 to 24, polls showed. The data, released Wednesday, comes from a YouGov survey of more than 1,000 women commissioned by UN Women UK in January 2021.

The organization’s survey also found that women have little faith in public institutions to handle the situation.

“Only 4% of women told us they had reported the harassment cases to an official organization. 45% of women said they did not believe reporting would help change anything,” said UN Women UK.