Nayana McGee
Boris Johnson claims women’s safety is his number one priority, but actions speak louder than words.
When the news of Sarah Everard’s death hit the front pages, a wave of genuine fear rippled across the UK. If women felt safe before, they certainly did not now. Our walks home from work seemed longer, the strangers that passed us by seemed more intimidating. The voices in our heads were working overtime assessing every possible scenario that could be a threat. We walked fast, kept our heads down, told our friends to let us know they got home safe. Everything we did already was exacerbated by an unrelenting paranoia that wouldn’t let up.
The outcry from women across the UK following Ms Everard’s murder can only be described as extraordinary. We were angry, outraged, insulted. How could this have been allowed to happen? As more information on the case came to light, we demanded an explanation as to why the misogynistic red flags weren’t dealt with sooner.
The government isn’t listening
Even now, seven months after Ms Everard’s murder, the government has made it very clear that tackling misogynistic behaviour towards women is not a priority. When asked if misogyny should be made a hate crime, Boris Johnson told the BBC that it would “overburden” the police, and that instead of enforcing new laws, police should focus on prosecuting the “real crimes.”
“Employing more female police officers will have absolutely no effect on the behaviour of male police officers.”
Johnson’s solution to making the streets safer for women is to recruit more female police officers, and while we love to see women succeeding in a male dominated field, I can’t help but feel that he is completely missing the point.
Employing more female police officers will have absolutely no effect on the behaviour of male police officers. The issue is the behaviour, not the quantity. Until that behaviour is challenged and given appropriate repercussions, women’s safety will be in just as much jeopardy as it is now.
Not only is it insulting for the government to imply that misogyny is not a ‘real crime’, but it shows their cluelessness when it comes to how quickly misogynistic behaviour can snowball into something bigger if it is not addressed at the source.
UK Culture Normalises Misogyny
In our society, it is common for men to verbally harass women in the street. To touch without permission, to follow someone home, to catcall and make discriminatory jokes. It is a ‘lad culture’ that is toxic, and it promotes misogynistic behaviour with little to no consequence.
For women everywhere, tackling sexual harassment and misogyny has become part of everyday life. Even as young girls we are taught how to behave to lessen our chances of danger. We dress sensibly, we share our locations, we take the well-lit path. We dampen and dim ourselves as not to attract attention, we miss out on experiences, we hide ourselves away. The responsibility has always been put on women to learn how to deal with misogyny, when it should be put on men to understand that is it not acceptable.
The Justice System is Failing Women
A reported 97% of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment, but only 4% will actually report it to the police. 45% of women that would not report sexual harassment say it’s because they don’t think it would change anything.
Can you blame them? When fewer than one in 60 rape cases lead to charge and convictions are down by almost two thirds, can we have any faith at all in the justice system? When the government are advising women to flag down a bus if they feel unsafe around a police officer, how are we supposed to trust that they care even the slightest bit about our safety?
At this point, I am convinced that they don’t.
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