England has been shaken for a few days following the disappearance of a 33-year-old Sarah Everard. This case reminds us that women are always threatened in public space and sometimes even made to feel guilty.
England has been shaken for a few days following the disappearance of Sarah Everard, 33. The Londoner was last seen on March 3, 2021 in Clapham (a district in south London). Via a CCTV camera, Sarah Everard was filmed walking home after visiting a friend around 9:30 p.m. Since then, his image has been plastered in all the streets of the city. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said human remains were found in Ashford, Kent. Investigators have not yet been able to confirm the identity of the remains and this news comes after the arrest of a Met (Metropolitan Police Service) officer on suspicion of the kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard. The man is part of a specialized unit tasked with patrolling diplomatic premises, London police said in a statement. "The fact that the suspect arrested for Sarah's murder was a London police officer has triggered shock waves and anger in the public and in the police ranks.", added the commissioner. In a televised statement, Cressida Dick confirmed that the officers searching had "found, very sadly, what appear to be human remains".
"Sarah's disappearance under these horrific and wicked circumstances is every family's worst nightmare", announced Cressida Dick, commissioner of the metropolitan police, can we read in the Time. Across the country, many women spoke of their own experiences of harassment and sexual assault in public places using the hashtag #ReclaimTheNight on social media. This outpouring of words comes as the organization A Women UK. released a new report showing that 97% of women aged 18-24 in the UK said they had been sexually harassed, while over 70% of women of all ages in the country said they had been sexually harassed in the public space. The situation is no better in France.
In January 2021, a survey conducted by L'Oréal Paris in partnership with Ipsos, showed that since the start of the health crisis, even though we have to travel less, nearly one in five women in France declares having been the victim of at least one situation of sexual harassment in a public space. And this phenomenon unfortunately affects women of all ages: 41% of women surveyed say they feel less safe in public spaces; the mask, which conceals the face, becomes a factor of insecurity for 47% of them; Finally, even more striking, 71% of respondents say they avoid certain places and 61% adapt their clothing to go out.
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This case shows how much responsibility for assault rests on the shoulders of women. On social networks, Internet users have dared to point the finger at the time when Sarah Everard was out alone, as if that explained her disappearance. What a shame ! A tweet noted this "victim blaming" (in French "fault of the victim"): "The" victim blaming "that I saw during the last 2 days concerning #SarahEverard is disgusting. The question shouldn't be why Sarah would go home alone at 9:30 p.m., but why isn't it ALWAYS safe for women to walk alone at night without fear! " A woman should go out on her own at night and dressed as she wants, without telling herself that it will be her fault if she is assaulted.
Because yes, just like Sarah Everard did that night in South London, we've all been "careful" from a young age. We all do this, and yet we are still not safe. So instead of blaming the victims for justifying the violence, it would be time to ask why we live in a world where women are afraid and where rape is committed every seven minutes.