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A woman’s disappearance, now treated as a suspected murder, has sparked a debate on women’s safety in public spaces in the U.K.
Prominent politicians, journalists and other public figures joined countless women on social media in sharing their experiences of feeling unsafe on British streets after police officer Wayne Couzens was arrested on suspicion of murdering Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old Londoner who had gone missing last week.
“Walking late at night recently, I remember thinking I’d better look over my left shoulder as much as I’m looking over my right so I don’t strain my neck,” Tory MP Claire Coutinho tweeted. “And always with keys out.”
Sky Political Correspondent Kate McCann noted the Everard case “hit home hard” for women as many are used to making calculations such as to “take the longer, better-lit route” and “swap shoes for trainers in case we need to run.”
Harriet Harman, Labour’s chair of the human rights select committee, told Times Radio on Thursday: “This is an issue for men’s behavior, more than it is of women’s behavior.”
The subject is likely to feature prominently during Thursday afternoon’s debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords on the topic of International Women’s Day.
A new YouGov survey of 1,000 women for U.N. Women U.K. underscored how widespread street harassment is. Some 97 percent of women aged 18 to 24 have experienced sexual harassment, according to the survey, and 80 percent said that the harassment occurred in a public space. Around 45 percent say they do not believe the issue would be properly dealt with by authorities.
Claire Barnett, executive director of U.N. Women U.K., said: “This is a human rights crisis. It’s just not enough for us to keep saying ‘this is too difficult a problem for us to solve’ — it needs addressing now.”
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by developments in the Everard case, adding: “We must work fast to find all the answers to this horrifying crime.”
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