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Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid, comments: \u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> Five years on from the murder of Sarah Everard Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid, comments: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cToday marks the fifth anniversary since the horrific rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Her murder, by a serving police officer, exposed the entrenched misogyny within the police force, leaving countless women fearful of those who are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1322,"featured_media":49505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/span>\u201cToday marks the fifth anniversary since the horrific rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Her murder, by a serving police officer, exposed the entrenched misogyny within the police force, leaving countless women fearful of those who are meant to protect them. Since that day, whilst some action has been taken to improve the police response to violence against women and girls (VAWG), significantly more must be done, as the misogyny\u00a0<\/span>remains<\/span>\u00a0rooted and systemic. \u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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<\/span>\u201cIf we are to see true change, we need a radical cultural shift where police proactivity in engaging with specialists and survivors is the norm, as opposed to the exception or the pilot. For us this will be the litmus test of a changed culture which will deliver for survivors of VAWG. \u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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<\/span>\u201c<\/span>W<\/span>e continue to hear that survivors are experiencing poor and unsupportive responses from the police and the broader criminal justice system, with many choosing not to report the crimes against them for fear of not being believed. This is even more acute for\u00a0<\/span>B<\/span>lack, minoritised and migrant women whose collective experiences of interacting with the police compound this fear.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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<\/span>\u201c<\/span>If this is to ever change, the government must work with specialist organisations, like Women\u2019s Aid and the survivors that inform us, to develop training that addresses sexism, misogyny and VAWG, which then must be delivered to the width and breadth of the criminal justice system. A complete, system-wide holistic reform of the police, and across all sectors of the justice system is needed to ensure that women are protected from predatory men.\u202f \u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Despite the government accepting recommendations made by investigations such as the Angiolini inquiry, progress to implement them has been far too slow. In September 2025 more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales had still not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences and we\u00a0<\/span>are yet\u00a0<\/span>to see active engagement with domestic abuse organisations across the country. Until we see this cultural shift in approach by police forces, we will not see meaningful change.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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<\/span>\u201cThe government has made the deeply welcome pledge to halve VAWG in the next decade \u2013 for this goal to become a reality, there must be a whole-system response, going beyond the reforms to the criminal justice system alone. Since Sarah\u2019s murder, we have heard countless announcements, reports,\u00a0<\/span>reviews<\/span>\u00a0and commitments being made, but what we truly need now is action. Sarah, as well as countless women who lost their lives to violent, predatory men, deserve more.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"