Priti Patel says 'every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets' - Money

Priti Patel has said that ‘every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets’ as dozens shared their harrowing personal stories with #saraheverard and #TooManyMen as Reclaim These Streets marches were announced.

The Home Secretary issued a statement earlier today following the disappearance of marketing manager Sarah Everard, 33, who went missing on a busy road in Clapham, south London, as she walked home.

Ms Patel vowed that she would ‘do all [she] can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment’ and praised women for sharing their own experiences on social media.

Sarah’s disappearance has ignited fury over the issues of female safety with hundreds of women openly discussing the fear they have felt when alone in public day or night.

Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised.

It comes after a serving Metropolitan Police officer was arrested in connection with her disappearance on suspicion of murder, kidnapping – and a unrelated charge of exposure.

The man, in his 40s, remains in police custody and is being questioned by detectives.

The Home Secretary issued a statement earlier today following the disappearance of marketing manager Sarah Everard, 33, (pictured) who went missing on a busy road in Clapham, south London, as she walked home

Ms Patel’s statement read: ‘I am deeply saddened by he developments in the Sarah Everard investigation.

‘My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with Sarah, her family and friends at this unbearable time.

‘Many women have shared their stories and concerns online since Sarah’s disappearance last week.

‘These are so powerful because each and every woman can relate. Every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets without fear of harassment or violence.

‘At this deeply sad and tragic time as we think and pray for Sarah and her family. I will continue through my role to do all I can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment.’

Priti Patel has said that ‘every woman should feel safe to walk on our streets’ as dozens share their harrowing personal stories with #saraheverard and #TooManyMen as Reclaim These Streets marches are announced

Ms Patel vowed that she would ‘do all she can to protect women and girls from violence and harassment’ and praised women for sharing their own experiences on social media

Dozens of women have shared their stories of being stalked in light of Sarah’s disappearance, including Diane Abbott.

The Labour MP wrote: ‘Even after all these years if I am out late at night on an isolated street & I hear a man’s footsteps behind me I automatically cross the road.

‘It is the habit of a lifetime to try & keep safe. But it should not have to be like this #SarahEverard.’

And members of the public were quick to follow suit as one wrote: ‘As a teenager I’d walk home at night with keys clutched in my hand, always thinking which was the nearest house I knew someone that I could run to if needed.

‘Wish I didn’t have to tell my teenage daughter to do this 30 years later. Thinking of Sarah’s family #ReclaimTheNight.’

Another added: ‘From the moment we reach puberty women get used to being flashed, followed, touched being told what we should & shouldn’t do.

‘Almost all of us has had the experience of wearing flat shoes for a quick get away, keys in hand, phone ready, looking over our shoulder #ReclaimTheNight.’

Reclaim These Streets marches, designed to show that women should feel safe no matter the time of day, are now being organised

Dozens of women have shared their stories of being stalked in light of Sarah’s disappearance including Diane Abbott

A third commented: ‘Every woman you know has taken a longer route.

‘Has doubled back on herself. Has pretended to dawdle by a shop window. Has held her keys in her hand.

‘Has made a fake phone call. Has rounded a corner and run.

‘Every woman you know has walked home scared. Every woman you know.’

It comes as organisers announce the first Reclaim These Streets protest will be held on Clapham Common near to where the Durham University grad was last seen alive.

Dr Julia Grace Patterson shared her own experience

Dr Julia Grace Patterson, who runs campaigning organisation EveryDoctor UK, took to Twitter to share her own harrowing experience.

She wrote: ‘I feel exposed tweeting this, but I think I’ll do it anyway. I cried tears of anger and exhaustion and heartache last night for Sarah.

‘But I also cried for all women. I was attacked on the street by a man when I was at medical school.

‘My facial injuries meant I had to seek A+E treatment. I was then stalked by the police officer who’d taken my evidence (my passport, bag and keys, which had been stuffed in a nearby bin).

‘I was called daily by this police officer who said he was handling my case. Eventually when he accepted I’d turned down his romantic advances, he sent my things to a police station in the outskirts of London, and it took me several weeks to track them down.

‘I had no ID, no phone, no money. I was a new student in London. I had PTSD symptoms from my attack, physical injuries, and shame I didn’t report him because I felt stupid, like I’d done something wrong.

‘Like my presence on that street in broad daylight has attracted the attack. I am still scared of walking alone in my own neighbourhood at night. Sarah could be any one of us and I’m devastated for her.

‘I’m devastated for all of us. This must be a moment of reckoning. It’s 2021. #saraheverand.’

The event organisers said: ‘We believe that streets should be safe for women, regardless of what you wear, where you live or what time of day or night it is.

‘We shouldn’t have to wear bright colours when we walk home and clutch our keys in our fists to feel safe.

‘It’s wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently.

‘In Clapham, police told women not to go out at night this week.

‘Women are not the problem.

‘We’ve all been following the tragic case of Sarah Everard over the last week.

‘This is a vigil for Sarah, but also for all women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day.

‘Come to the bandstand on Clapham Common at 6pm on Saturday March 13 to reclaim these streets and our public spaces.

‘This event is for and about women, but open to all. Bring a light to remember those we’ve lost.’

Organiser Jamie Klingler said: ‘Every WhatsApp group I am in is filled with dread over Sarah Everard.

‘All of us are replaying the millions of times we, as urban adults, have walked home at night.

‘That we have taken for granted that we deserve to be safe.

‘My heart is breaking for her family.’

The organisers said campaigners should maintain social distancing and, across the county, other Reclaim These Streets marches are springing up in cities such as Cambridge.

Sarah disappeared after leaving a friend’s house in Leathwaite Road, Clapham, at about 9pm on March 3.

She was thought to be making the 50-minute walk to her home in Brixton where she lives alone.

Detectives believe she walked over Clapham Common and was seen on CCTV about halfway through the journey, on the A205 Poynders Road at 9.30pm.

She had been on the phone with her boyfriend Josh Lowth, also 33, for 15 minutes but after that her phone lost signal or was switched off.

She was not seen on CCTV further down the road, or by her flat in Brixton.

Police have since arrested a serving Metropolitan Police officer in connection with her disappearance.

He has been arrested on suspicion of murder, kidnapping and a unrelated charge of exposure.

The man, in his 40s, remains in police custody and is being questioned by detectives.