London – Protests against gender-based violence continued in London on Monday as hundreds from outside parliament marched through the city, shouting: “sisters united will never be defeated”, “justice for Sarah” and “kill the bill.”
“We do not just want over-policing and more police officers abusing their power over women, we want to take action,” said Jennifer, 25. “We want to spend money on women’s services, we want there to be a cultural change that protects women and fights against misogyny and violence.”
The protest 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 through well-lit London streets at night. The man accused of killing Everard is a police officer who was reported for indecent exposure a few days before Everard’s death.
Activists initially applied on Saturday to hold a social-distance watch, but permission for the watch was denied because the UK is currently under a national coronavirus shutdown. That did not stop hundreds of people, mostly women, from showing up at a park near Everard in south London. After about an hour, police forcibly marched into the peaceful crowd and eventually arrested four people, including two teenagers.
The protests also highlighted the actions of the London Metropolitan Police, who are calling on officials, including Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and British Home Secretary Priti Patel, for pending national legislation, which according to civil liberties groups ‘s power will increase to limit, criticize and strengthen protest marches.
The fear of not being able to demonstrate if the legislation succeeds led to a number of people and groups protesting on Monday.
“This is our last chance to express our opinions with freedom of speech,” said 19-year-old Haley, who said Black Lives Matter and climate activist Extinction Rebellion were out Monday.
“We try to say everything before we shut up,” she said.
The murder of Everard has sparked a national debate over violence against women and how it is being treated in the UK. Britain currently has a low level of rape prosecution, despite an exponential increase in rape reports over the past year.
“This is something that all women and gender-neutral people experience, and there is no way around it,” said Laura, 23, adding that people quickly blame the victim.
“If you take the precautions, like me, and you take a taxi – I’ve taken a taxi before and the taxi driver tried to rape me. Whatever I do, I’m not safe and it’s not exclusive to “Britain is not the whole world,” she said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened a meeting of the government’s crime and justice task force on Monday to discuss his strategy on violence against women and why rape prosecution is so low. Britain’s police chiefs would also hold an emergency meeting on the subject.
Anger grew rapidly over the police’s handling of the Saturday rally, and thousands took to the streets of central London on Sunday in protest.
“We learned one thing this weekend: it is the right to protest, the right to assemble, the right to have a voice is fundamental to our democracy, and especially British democracy,” the former chief constable said. Sir Peter Fahy told a local radio station. . “You have to be really careful about passing more legislation, just because certain politicians don’t like certain protests in the summer,” he said.
HANNAH MCKAY / REUTERS
The 22-year-old Lena argued, “is our fundamental right. We may go to the streets and say to the world, ‘You are treating us wrong’.”
Police, protesters, who was going on throughout the demonstration, began to spread on Monday at about 20:00 local time.