A Year Since Sarah Everard’s Murder: Has Anything Changed?

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‘A Year Since Sarah Everard’s Murder: Has Anything Changed?’

It has been a year since Sarah Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered in South London. Her killer was a serving Metropolitan Police Officer, Wayne Couzens.

In a statement, Everard’s family said their lives have “changed forever” and that they miss her all the time.

The Met Police officer had been planning the crime for at least a month. He used his warrant card and handcuffs to kidnap Everard, using Covid lockdown rules as cause for the false arrest.

Couzens was reportedly nicknamed “the rapist” by colleagues because he made female officers feel uncomfortable. He was also accused of indecent exposure on several occasions.

Everard was one of 125 women and girls who have been murdered by a man in the last 12 months, according to a Femicide Census. Others include Primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, who was brutally murdered in a park close to her home. Carol Hart was murdered by her carer after she discovered he was stealing from her, and Maria Rawlings, was murdered in a savage attack after being followed off a bus.

On this grim one-year anniversary, statistics show that nothing has changed to protect women against men. ONS figures reveal that 63,000 rape offences were reported in the year to September 2021, and only 1.3% resulted in a suspect being charged. Meanwhile, more ONS statistics show domestic abuse rose by 6% in the year ending March 2021, and this follows increases seen in previous years.

Despite these growing statistics, the government still refuses to make misogyny a hate crime.

Culturally, we have noticed a shift as women rose up and held vigils for Everard across the UK. But, one gathering saw the police arrest four people for breaching Covid regulations, and in turn, heavy criticism of the police response.

In the aftermath of Everard’s murder, women and girls were told to keep themselves safe by getting a bus rather than walking home. But putting the burden of self-protection on the victim is part of the problem. And, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres has said, in order to achieve gender equality, we need to change the system, not women.

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