Nine in 10 women don't feel safe walking alone at night
It comes five years since the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard in London
Women have overwhelmingly told us they feel unsafe at night, with nine in 10 women we asked in a recent survey telling us they don't feel safe walking alone in the dark.
Nearly all (99%) of the women we asked also told us more needs to be done to protect women and girls.
These statistics come five years on from the murder of 33 year old Sarah Everard in South London which shocked the world.
Sarah Everard's murder
Sarah was kidnapped whilst walking home from a friend's house, she was then raped and strangled before her body was discovered in woodland in Kent.
Her murderer, Wayne Couzens, was an off-duty police constable serving with the Metropolitan Police at the time and had told Sarah he was on duty. He was later sentenced to serve life in prison, without the chance of parole.
"I wouldn't necessarily automatically trust a man even if he presented himself as the police or someone you'd immediately think would have professional integrity." - Quote from a woman in our survey
In the wake of Sarah's disappearance and murder, there was a national outcry for change and better protection of women and girls.
But what, if anything, has changed five years down the line? We launched a survey recently asking our listeners if they felt any safer than 2021 and asked about what precautions they took when out at night
"I wear sensible footwear so I can run, I've bought some alarms, torches, seat belt cutters, and window breakers attached to my car keys. I've also taken some self-defence classes." - one of the women who responded to our survey
Do women feel safe at night? Survey responses
Over 100 people responded to our survey, with the message being very clear, women do not feel any safer than they did when Sarah Everard was murdered.
You can see the results below:
Women overwhelmingly told us they don't feel safe while walking alone in the dark, with nine in 10 saying they don't feel safe alone at night.
84% of people we asked also say they take precautions to protect themselves when walking alone in the dark.
"I walk a lot quicker and keep my phone ready to dial 999" - one of the women who responded to our survey
19 out of 20 women told us they don't feel any safer walking alone now than they did 5 years ago when Sarah Everard was murdered.
And 99% of women we asked told us more needs to be done to protect women and girls.
'Sadly it's not surprising'
Bell Ribeiro-Addy is the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill and told us the results of our survey were not a shock to her:
"I mean sadly it's not surprising. I mean even where we are sat now in Clapham Common, incidents continue to happen to women. I'm not surprised there are women that feel that way and I'm not surprised that they continue to take precautions."
"There are not enough resources put out in terms of supporting women, and actually providing that education and like a London-wide or country-wide campaign in terms of ending violence against women and girls. There are a lot of schemes but it's not enough."
Jamie Klingler is the founder of Reclaim the Streets, she told us women's safety needs to be more of a priority"
"It's violence against women at the hands of men and that's what need to be dealt with. If women could keep women safe we would've stopped male violence a long time ago if we were capable of doing it. This is a men's problem and men have to stop killing us."
"There's only so many women you can give millions and millions of public money to, to expose what's going on, have them tell you what's wrong, and then ignore it. It's just kicking things into the tall grass and it's unacceptable."
Met Police Commissioner says Sarah Everard's murder is as shocking today as it was five years ago
In a statement issued by the force, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: "Sarah Everard should still be here.
"Five years have passed since her senseless and devastating murder.
"What happened to her was a profound betrayal: of her, of her family and loved ones, and of every person who places their trust in policing."
He said the fact that she was killed by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, was "as devastating today as it was in 2021".
"It was an unthinkable abuse of power and a total violation of the values that the Met, and policing stands for.
"On the day I heard what he had done, I felt devastated for the immense harm his actions caused to the trust that underpins our relationship with the communities we serve.
"What he did shook policing to its core. It made decent, dedicated officers and staff across the country furious that one of our own could commit such a monstrous crime.
"We will always be deeply sorry: for the unimaginable harm done to Sarah, for the trauma endured by her family - who have shown extraordinary dignity in the face of unbearable grief - and for the profound damage inflicted on the trust Londoners should be able to place in their police service."