What can women do when they feel threatened? Women’s rights activists find the advice of the London police “downright ridiculous”. The problem is not female failure, but male violence.
London – The London police force’s recent recommendations for women to behave in response to Sarah Everard’s murder have met with harsh criticism.
The proposals were “downright ridiculous if it weren’t so disgusting,” said women’s rights activist Patsy Stevenson of the PA news agency. The London police had advised people frightened about the behavior of officers to knock on doors, stop passers-by or vehicles, or call 911. The killer of Sarah Everard, a police officer, had abused his office and his equipment to kidnap the 33-year-old.
Who is in charge?
The women’s rights organization Reclaim These Streets, which organized protests and a vigil after the murder of Everard, told the dpa news agency: “Again, the responsibility is placed on women to protect themselves – and what is worse, that they protect themselves from the To protect people who are supposed to protect them. “
Labor MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy tweeted that “this utterly ridiculous advice” shows that the police still do not take violence against women seriously. “And you ask yourself why trust is lower than ever before?” In another tweet, the opposition politician emphasized: “This plays into the hideous culture of perpetrator-victim reversal that we see so often when women are attacked The ex-boss of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, called the advice “so bad”. The Met, on the other hand, emphasized that there were a few exceptional situations in which plainclothes police were traveling alone.
“It’s not up to women”
“They grab every straw,” said Stevenson. In such situations, you cannot simply stop a vehicle. “Can you imagine people’s distrust when they are supposed to protect themselves from the police in this way? That’s shocking. ”The police actually want to win back the trust of the population with advice like this.
The Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon also criticized male-dominated perspectives. Looking at statements by a politician that Everard should have been aware that her killer was not allowed to stop her, Sturgeon emphasized: “The comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to change that. ”The problem is male violence, not female failure to become increasingly inventive in self-protection, tweeted the government leader. dpa
