The kidnapping and death of 33-year-old marketing manager Sarah Everard has sparked a deluge of concerns about the safety of women in London and the rest of the UK, with thousands of women telling their own stories of harassment in a new boom in support of the #MeToo movement.
Me. Everard went missing after leaving a friend’s flat in south London on March 3, prompting a police investigation in south-east England. Police confirmed on Friday that the remains found in a wooded area southeast of the capital belonged to her and that a post-mortem was underway. An officer at the Metropolitan Police in London has been arrested on charges of kidnapping and murder.
The case has hit a nerve in Britain, partly because Ms. Everard has done many things that women are often advised to do to ensure their safety.
She was wearing bright, visible clothing when she left her friend’s apartment at 9pm for a trip home that should take no more than 50 minutes. She called another friend to say she was on her way. And she got stuck on well-lit highways. Yet she was abducted by a police officer and, investigators suspect.
Many women have told their own experiences about being harassed or feeling unsafe to walk city streets.