The Sarah Everard Vigil Is Needed. Women Say They’ve ‘Had Enough’

The outpouring of pain and anger following the death of Sarah Everard is because women “have had enough”, says Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women’s Equality Party.

“We’ve had enough of the violence perpetrated against us by men, and we’ve had enough of police and politicians not taking it seriously,” the London Mayoral candidate tells HuffPost UK.

“We want to be free to walk the streets without fear of harassment or violence.”

Reid’s comments come ahead of a planned vigil on London’s Clapham Common on Saturday evening that thousands are anticipated to attend, and which organisers say is to “reclaim these streets and our public spaces”.

The 33-year-old’s disappearance on Wednesday March 3 between Clapham and Brixton, followed a week later by the arrest of a serving Metropolitan Police officer on suspicion of her murder, has shaken women to the core.

Because while we may not know Sarah Everard personally, many of us feel that we – or those we know – could easily be Sarah Everard: a woman who was simply walking home after meeting a friend.

The disturbing case has seen women share their own experiences of being followed home, as well as other forms of street harassment, intimidation and violence, both on social media and in private messages and conversations among friends.

Amid the public outpouring, one criminology expert warned women not to “get hysterical” in relation to Everard’s case.

Talking on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Professor Marion Fitzgerald of Kent University, said: “Women account for about a third of all murders. Men are far more likely to be murdered. Men are far more likely to be murdered by someone they don’t know. Men are far more likely to be murdered in a public place, and that hasn’t changed.

“I think I’m entitled to say as a woman, we shouldn’t pander to stereotypes and get hysterical.”

But the clear distress expressed on social media in recent days shows “just how differently women experience public space compared to men,” stresses Andrea Simon, director of End Violence Against Women (EVAW).

“The fact that the public conversation has for so long revolved around what actions women must take to ‘keep themselves safe’ rather than what drives perpetrators is really worrying,” she tells HuffPost.

Saturday’s vigil will take place around the bandstand on Clapham Common at 6pm, following reports that police knocked on doors in the area and told women “not to go out alone”.

“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,” the organisers wrote on Facebook.

“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.”

Thousands online have been detailing the many ways women are taught to adjust their behaviour from a young age – stick to the main path, carry your keys, wear bright clothes and text a friend your whereabouts – in a moment reminiscent of #MeToo.

Although the recent social media conversation has been sparked by Everard’s case, women with many different stories have been stepping up to tell them.

Maya Tutton, co-founder of the campaign group Our Streets Now, points out that “public sexual harassment is universal” among women and girls – but the way it plays out is often more pronounced among discriminated groups.

“Not all experiences of public sexual harassment are the same. Sexism is often combined with racism, transphobia, ableism and fatphobia. These incidents are not only more common, but can escalate into racist, Islamophobic or homophobic hate crimes,” she says.

“Harassment doesn’t happen to one kind of body, and yet in our conversations it is so often the white, cisgendered heteronormative experience that is shared.”

The vigil is “for and about women, but open to all,” say the organisers, who urge participants to observe Covid-19 safety guidelines including wearing a mask, social distancing, downloading the NHS contact tracing app and turning their Bluetooth on.

Participants are invited to bring a light for those who’ve died at the hands of violent men, with a strong stance against victim-blaming – a rhetoric that has increased in the wake of Everard’s story.

Women on Twitter have been sharing historic examples, as well as incidents that show some men do not register the magnitude of the issue.

Our Streets Now is currently pushing for street harassment to be made illegal, through its #CrimeNotCompliment campaign, which demands a clear law that criminalises public sexual harassment.

Research conducted by the campaign group alongside Plan International UK found 76% of girls who have experienced harassment have never reported it to the police.

“As it stands, there is no UK law that fully criminalises public sexual harassment, leaving the perpetrators free to get away with it. As one of the girls we work with put it, you can be fined for dropping litter in the UK, but not for harassing a woman in public,” Tutton says. “The girls we work with tell us that they fear they won’t be taken seriously, or believed, if they report harassment, or that anything will be done.”

The group is also working in schools and higher education institutions to get public sexual harassment into the curriculum – for girls and boys. Simon would also like to see the narrative shift to focus on the behaviour of perpetrators.

“We’re always talking about how women ‘safety plan’ – text their friends in advance, walk with their keys in their hands, avoid empty tube carriages or poorly lit areas. But we rarely hear about what drives perpetrators to harm women and what needs to be put in place to stop this behaviour,” she says.

“Like with all acts of violence against women, we need solutions that target the behaviour of perpetrators and not risk blaming victims when they are attacked for simply going about their daily lives.”

Reid is hopeful this week will mark a “turning point” because “women won’t stay silent”.

“We need justice for Sarah and for all the women who have been killed, raped or abused. We need this to be a political and policing priority,” she says. “We need sufficient funding for prevention and support services. And we need equality, because violence against women is both the cause and consequence of women’s inequality.”

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‘A Womb Full Of Nails’: These Pictures Show The True Pain Of Endometriosis

Like “tightening barbed wire” or “a womb full of nails and daggers” – these are just two ways women describe the debilitating pain of endometriosis, in a new “pain dictionary” that aims to reduce diagnosis times for the condition.

One in 10 women are thought to experience endometriosis – which equates to 176 million women globally – yet astonishingly, it still takes an average of seven and a half years to be diagnosed.

Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside the womb. This tissue bleeds monthly, but there’s nowhere for this blood to go.

It can cause excruciating pain, like “organs wrapped in slowly-tightening barbed wire, followed by sudden intense tightening pain which can be so intense it’s almost difficult to breathe”, says Emma Sutt, one of the illustrators involved in the project, who has endo herself.

Barbing, by Emma Sutt

Barbing, by Emma Sutt

Many women experience delays in diagnosis and treatment due to perceptions that even severe period pain is ‘normal’. Over half (51%) of women and men (52%) think period pain is something women should endure, according to research by Bodyform.

It means many endometriosis sufferers are shamed into silence, while medical professionals underestimate the impacts of living with the condition.

In reality, endo can destroy women’s confidence, sex lives, careers and mental health. In one study of 7,000 women across 52 countries, over 40% had given up or lost their job because of endometriosis.

Monster, by Augustine Cerf.

Monster, by Augustine Cerf.

The pain dictionary is now available as an e-book and in hard copy for GPs who want to gain a better understanding of the condition. It’s hoped it will also give women “new language” to describe their pain.

Currently, healthcare professionals tend to ask patients to describe their pain on a scale of one to 10, but the experience of pain is often highly individual – and often can’t be reduced to a number.

The dictionary is part of #PainStories, a campaign by Essity, the creator of Libresse and Bodyform, designed to tackle the gender pain gap.

“A lot of women think painful periods is normal but actually, it’s not, particularly when the periods are starting to affect activities in your daily life,” says Dr Shireen Emadossadaty, a GP and women’s health specialist who has worked on the campaign.

“Opening up the conversation around period pain will encourage women to see their GP, to be persistent about their symptoms and hopefully we can bring down that diagnosis time. You’re not alone, period pain is common but it’s not normal and it’s not something you should be suffering with.”

Bodyform's digital museum. 

Bodyform’s digital museum. 

People with endometriosis were asked to describe their pain, and their testimonials were then turned into striking illustrations.

These illustrations appear in the book, as well as a new digital ‘Pain Museum’, an exhibition offering more information about endometriosis.

Here are just some of the artworks, coupled with quotes about how it really feels to live with endometriosis.

Fire sickness, by Venus Libido

“The pain burns, stings and aches sometimes all at once. I feel it build up in my lower body like fire, and hot knives pushing from the inside out. The pain travels from my uterus across my stomach and around my sides, down through my legs and up my back until it starts all over again from the source. I feel sick and exhausted from the pain overriding every part of me.”

Misery Roulette, by Selby Hurst

“It’s a fun-sponge roulette of misery. Cramps that stop me moving, yo-yoing emotions, gut-wrenching nausea, being sick, wanting to eat nothing and then everything, back pain, breast pain, alarmingly painful constipation, diarrhoea so bad you can’t leave the house, headaches, migraines, worsening depression, fatigue, anxiety, stress and a whole heap more.”

Misery Roulette by

Misery Roulette by

Inner Nails, by Augustine Cerf

“Hundreds of nails piercing my uterus, my whole pelvis in agony. The pain radiates down my legs, and through my whole body. From one second to the next, I can’t stand up.”

Torture Grips, by Em Cooper

“Like torture. Like somebody is gripping, squeezing, cutting, prodding, stabbing you inside, and won’t let go. The waves of pain last for so long you can only take some painkillers, curl into a ball, and cry yourself to sleep.”

Torture Grips, by

Torture Grips, by

Inner Wringing by Augustine Cerf

“It’s like someone’s wringing my organs. And unbelievable tugging.”

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Call For Law On Street Harassment As Teenage Girls Say ‘No More’

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Marie Stopes UK Finally Changes Name To Cut Ties With Eugenicist

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Boris Johnson Has A Woman Problem. When Will He Sort It Out?

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‘No Privacy’: Why Blind Women Really Need Accessible Pregnancy Tests

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Meghan Markle And Gloria Steinem Discuss Voter Suppression In New Interview

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Vagina Brush Designed To Sweep Away Period ‘Debris’ Disappears From Sale

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You Don’t Need To Pretend To Not Have A Family To Be Professional

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Back To Work With No Childcare? There’s A Woman-Shaped Hole In The Government’s Plan

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