Women don’t need a new Met Commissioner. We need concrete action.

Megan Kenyon | 17th March 2021 | Uncategorised

Fear and unease are widespread among women across the UK. Gestures from Westminster won’t cut it, argues Megan Kenyon.

Fear and unease are widespread among women across the UK. Gestures from Westminster won’t cut it. Twitter was alive on Saturday evening with footage from Clapham Common. The vigil for Sarah Everard had erupted into disorder when members of the Met began to arrest protesters on the Common. Before the night was over, calls for the resignation of Met’s Commissioner Cressida Dick ensued. When the dust settled the following morning, the usual humdrum of the Sunday broadcast rounds got underway. Up from the Labour benches stepped Jess Philips MP, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding. On the question of Dick’s resignation, Philips was adamant: “If Cressida Dick stays or goes, it doesn’t make women more safe in this country,” she said, “we don’t need just to be angry, we need action.” As events over the past week have shown, there is a pervasive sense of fear and unease among women in the UK. A poll of 1,000 women, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by UN Women, last we...

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