The disappearance of Sarah Everard a case that we discussed in our most recent This Week in True Crime video has had some major breakthroughs since the video went live
And I thought I might just jump on here to update you all as to what has happened
As many of you may know devastating updates have been made public within the past 24 hours surrounding this case
Let's take a look at the head of London's Metropolitan police Cressida Dick's recent press conference
I want to start by saying that my thoughts and prayers are with Sarah Everard's family and her friends at this incredibly difficult and painful time
As you are aware a man has been arrested on suspicion of Sarah's murder
This evening detectives and search teams investigating Sarah's disappearance
Have found very sadly what appears to be human remains
The discovery was made in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent
As you can imagine at this early stage we are not able to confirm any identity and indeed that may take us some considerable time
The news today that it was a Metropolitan police officer who was arrested on suspicion of Sarah's murder
Has sent shock waves and anger through the public and through the Met
I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we are utterly appalled at this dreadful dreadful news
Sarah's disappearance in these awful and wicked circumstances I know are every family's worst nightmare
The Metropolitan police officer who had been arrested in connection with this case
Continues to be questioned on suspicion of the murder and kidnap of Sarah Everard
On Wednesday the 10th of March 2021 seven days after Sarah was last seen human remains were found in a wooded area near Ashford in Kent
As mentioned in This Week in True Crime investigators canvassed more than 750 homes
While trying to gain any information into Sarah's disappearance this canvassing led the police out of London and into Kent
The Met police officer who has been arrested has been named as PC Couzens who is a 48 year old serving Metropolitan police officer
He was arrested on Tuesday the 9th of March 2021 on suspicion of kidnap
But was later reasserted on suspicion of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure
Along with the arrest of PC Couzens a woman in her 30s believed to be his partner has also been detained on suspicion of assisting an offender
The Met commissioner says that the force is not able to confirm an identity adding this could take "considerable time"
She also stated that hundreds of officers and other police staff continue to work "around the clock" on the investigation
Since the sad news of Sarah Everard's disappearance came into the public eye
Women across the world have taken to social media to speak out about their experiences and how this tragic incident has made them feel
Many of these women are sharing not only their experiences of harassment and assault
But also how they have adapted their behavior when being out alone
I've put a few screenshots on screen now as well as a screenshot from Boris Johnson the prime minister of the UK
A vigil named Reclaim These Streets has been organized following the disappearance of Sarah Everard in South London
This vigil will be held in Clapham on Saturday the 13th of March 2021 and is to highlight women's safety on the streets
Organizers of Saturday afternoon's vigil on Clapham Common said local police had "told women not to go out at night this week" but they say "women are not the problem"
This is a vigil for Sarah but also for all those women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day
This discussion surrounding women's safety has unfortunately taken a tragedy to bring it to the forefront of public attention
As I obviously cannot speak for women's safety and their experiences and as I do not wish to speak over those being vocal about this
I want to use my platform to elevate these voices
Let's take a look at a few different interviews that have been conducted today speaking to women from various different walks of life about their experiences and their response
Experience that we all have which is how do we deal with you know having to go about our everyday lives when
There is always this kind of underlying threat and um it is true that uh abductions and murders
If that's what happened um are very rare but the other things that we fear are not
so um you know the latest crime survey suggests that 560,000 women uh experience sexual assault in England and Wales every year
And that's a lot of women
And we also know the rape statistics you know that it's about 1% of rape reports to the police that actually lead to a conviction
So I think it kind of it's it speaks to the fact that we know that there is this kind of predatory male behavior
And we also feel increasingly that we're not protected by it that the criminal justice system isn't doing its job
I think it strikes the wrong cord because it doesn't actually chime with women's everyday experience you know
Just talking to my friends and thinking about my own experience we all have um recollections of the times where we've been made to feel uncomfortable
We've had to change our behavior so to tell us that the streets are safe simply doesn't actually accord with-
With with what we the way we live our lives and what we have to deal with
I think I think most women feel that every day you are making judgments about is is it safe to do this
You know should I do something else can I walk down that street how can I avoid this it's it's becomes second nature to us
and so I think when somebody actually somebody in authority actually comes out and says no no the streets are safe it-it just isn't how we feel about our own experience
I think that's certainly part of it that um it does strike me that there are a lot of men saying I but I- I never thought about this before
And there's a huge divide in terms of the sexes here because um it's unthinkable for women not not to have these things in mind
And you know I do think that i've often thought gosh men can do these things without thinking twice about them
We from a very early age from being quite young girls and teenagers actually take all this into account
So um maybe if- if men have finally realized that women, you know women actually have conditional access to public space
Most men go out and they don't worry about you know as you say jogging late at night they don't worry about going for walks in the country
Um we don't have that and we never have and there's also the question about how the environment is designed
I mean I live near the river Thames the only way I can get there is to cross a busy road by using underpasses
I wouldn't dream of using those at night most most women I know wouldn't either
So there are questions about how the, whether the environment is even set up uh in a way that make that makes us feel safe
But I think the larger question is why we have this this kind of culture where women fear harassment all the time
We change our lives to deal with it and yet apparently lots and lots of men didn't realize that was happening
It's not just out at night I remember an occasion on a very nice sunday afternoon a few years ago
I was walking the park near my my house with a friend a woman friend
And a jogger passed us and as he did he lunged forward and grabbed one of my breasts and then ran on um that's not an unusual experience
Um another occasion I was walking along the high street near my house on a sunny afternoon with a friend and a man picked up bricks and started hurling them at us
Um I mean you know at that one I did report to the police but mostly you know we we don't actually report these things because they're so common
In fact you know misogyny is not actually a hate crime in this country
And i've heard senior officers say that they're against misogyny becoming a hate crime because there's just so much of it
Um there's something about violence against women and how it's there's a culture which not only commits it but sometimes encourages it
So you know when so few rapes end in a conviction I mean it's a really shocking statistic
That 55,000 women in England and Wales report a rape to the peace every year and maybe 1400 of those cases result in a conviction
And that does mean that 50 odd thousand men are walking around having committed this awful crime
And they know that they're very very likely ever to be called to account
And what does that what message does that give to predatory men
I mean nobody's saying that all men are predatory I think what we're saying is that a substantial number are
And the criminal justice system is not only failing to deal with it but it's actually allowing them to get away with it
I am absolutely furious because
When you're looking at Twitter and you're seeing so many women talk about their stories
And just how they've had to change their whole way of living for years
And it literally goes back years and years and years and nothing has changed nothing has changed at all we're still here
And it's the women getting blamed for what they're not doing the things they're doing wrong
What they should have done what they could have done rather than looking at the actual causes of the rapes and the murders
Which is the men raping and murdering them it's not the women is it
I sometimes think that the men just don't want to know you know nobody
Really wants to take a good hard long look at themselves and their contribution you know
So many women have experienced this right we know it's not all men who are doing it
But it's so many women who are on the receiving end
And it's not the same two or three men who are committing harassment all these men must know someone
They're either ignoring it or they're just completely oblivious to it
And I do know full well that some men will let blatant misogyny slide i've seen it myself
They've said they will challenge homophobia they will challenge racism but when it comes to sexism they'll let it go
It's just not seen as important
And it's so many things are brushed off as oh it was just a joke didn't mean anything by it
From such young age we hear the narrative boys will be boys
Will they? It's so creepy, your face straight don't you cringe because we hear it all the time
And boys will be boys only because we let them and it can't carry on like this
It starts off with boys lovely boys because they're pinging bra straps or they're pulling hair that means he likes you
And it carries on and escalates until they're doing much worse things and still it's the women who are being blamed for it
And it makes me so angry it doesn't matter what she was wearing what she was doing
She was going about her business and she had every right to be going out about her business without being attacked
What was the man doing who was out there out to rape her or murder her whatever what was he doing
That's the more pertinent question isn't it
And it just makes you so angry that we're still having to have these conversations and I have teenage daughters
And I don't want to be policing them on what they're wearing or telling them what's a bit too dark outside now you shouldn't really go out
They just want to go to the shops or to see their friends and it's it's just maddening
It really is maddening that we're still having to have these conversations
And i'm just furious Twitter isn't always the best place for your mental health anyway but
it's just an absolute cesspit of not all men what about me
It's just horrible and people need to take stock and have these wider conversations of why we are still in this situation right now
You probably tell i'm just so angry about it really really angry
I don't know things tend to come in and out of fashion don't they I think while we have a system that is dominated by men
I don't think there's going to be any major change
I welcome certain changes that have come recently such as changes to the domestic abuse bill there have been amendments which have addressed female-centric issues
But we do have a system that is run by men for the benefit of men
So I hope it will be a conversation starter
But we've all been here before haven't we you know it's deja vu we've had this conversation and i'm just tired of all the empty gestures
People will just share a few tweets say how terrible it is it's like gun crime in america thoughts and prayers
Where does it get anyone we need proper action taken and we need it taken now
So i've been posting lots of statistics that i've got from the ONS website about how disproportionately women are affected by violence and abuse
And it's absolutely staggering
I think it's something like three or four times the amount of women are affected by certain violent crimes than men
And when it comes to domestic homicide nearly all of women are killed by someone they know
It's a partner or an ex-partner it's not just random attacks that women just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
It's people targeting them because they're women
It's men with a long history of violence towards women we've got to address this
I haven't gone out after dark since it's happened at all like even to the shop and stuff like that
And I usually get a taxi back from work because we just get we get them free from work
Um and all of the taxi drivers have been really really nice and have like waited for me to get into the house and stuff before they've driven off
Which is very nice of them um but it's just yeah it's just a bit I feel on edge
But it's it's just so honestly like where i'm sat now if i look out the window out there it's the next road so it's just
oh it's just horrible to think a road that you've walked down so many times
i've walked down back from friend's house exactly the same
like after i've been for a few drinks on my own like when it's been dark it's just horrible to think anything could happen
It's I don't know it's it's weird because it's obviously not it's not someone I know so it's a weird
thing for it to feel so close to home even though it's not a person i've ever met
I don't know her family I don't know her friends anything like that
but it's just feels it feels like I do I think well as so many people have been saying online like
She doesn't she did everything that you're told to do it's like it's walking down
It's a really, it's quite a main road that road that's next to me it's not not like she was walking down a little back alley anywhere
It's a it's a busy road it's well lit she was on the phone to like on the phone to her boyfriend
like wearing bright clothes it was it was like half past nine at night it's not even late so
I think that's why because it's well it's just so horrible
I think the one thing i have seen that has been really good is the amount of men who've come out and said I never even considered this
Like I should learn about it I should actually think maybe
Like one thing about how lucky one that you don't have to consider where you're walking stuff like that
But also the amount of men have come out and said that they feel that they've learned something from it
Which is is pretty good I think and I always think a lot of people don't realize
Not to walk behind somebody or not to not that they're doing it on purpose
But I think people just genuinely don't realize that someone else is could be quite scared by that
And I was talking to both my housemates the guys I was talking to them about it and they were both saying like
They walked through Clapham Common all the time in the dark and they were like never even considered
Not doing it never considered it might be dangerous
Like never can never even cross their minds
So it's just it's a proper like
It's I think it's really highlighted how men and women experience the cities in general i think differently
But especially London because Clapham is not a dangerous area
Um and I think until they do anything that's that's real change eg more street lighting or more police just out on the streets in general at night
Or you know more anything that might make you feel safer I know at the moment people are a bit jumpy for police but
In general I just think until they until they actively do something
Like making things but you know making lighting better making streets safer in general
It's- it's just words it doesn't mean anything like saying oh it doesn't happen to very many people
Obviously it doesn't but it doesn't make you feel like it's not gonna happen to you so
It's just and also the amount of people I know who've been like followed by somebody
Who've had someone slow down in a car next to them who had someone make creepy comments it is everybody so
No I think it does miss the mark completely
As I said about the alarm for my keys because it's just
No I would like to be able to make a particularly loud noise if someone did come up to me or anything you know it's just a really
I think it's just really really affected everybody
I don't know anyone who 1. hasn't heard of it because I feel like sometimes things go past in the news
And a lot of people don't really know anything about it like everybody knows about this and
I think yeah as I said she hasn't done anything she was just going home from a friend's house like
How do you explain that
My heart really goes out to Sarah's family at this time although there's been no confirmed identification of the human remains discovered
Due to the manner in which it has been announced and discussed by the Met police
We can sadly infer that the remains are that of Sarah Everard
Alongside this video is a fundraiser for Missing People UK
Who have played and continued to play a critical role in assisting both the authorities and families throughout a missing person's case
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this update video
And i'll see you in the next case
If you or someone you know has been affected by issues covered in our programming including this episode
Then please use the link in the description for information advice and support