Over one hundred women have been murdered since the death of Sarah Everard last March when we, as a nation, decided to do more for women; to not let another innocent person be murdered at the hands of a man. Vigils across the country were held in solidarity, educational content was promoted, and people promised to do more. Beyond all the performative activism and Instagram collages that arose in protestation, a real epidemic of male violence against women is imminent, and is clearly not shifting.
After the murders of another two women, we have returned to a period of mourning yet again. We are not only mourning the loss of another innocent woman, but the loss of our safety.
Living in Sheffield as a female student has not been an easy experience. Walking home alone never gets easier, nor does leaving the house in anything remotely revealing.
One University of Sheffield student said that no matter the precautions she might take when walking by herself, being comfortable when out alone is a feeling that she rarely experiences.
She explained: “I just don’t know how much more I can do to keep myself safe anymore. We shouldn’t have to hold keys in our hands or carry a rape alarm with us in our pockets. We shouldn’t have to avoid dimly lit areas or streets that aren’t as safe.”
Sheffield is one of the greenest cities in the world and one of its defining qualities is the abundance of wildlife here. However, even the greenery can leave women at risk of attack.
In 2017, a petition demanding that Sheffield City Council improve the lighting in parks was made following a sexual assault in Weston Park, receiving over 800 signatures. Four years later, a new petition was made to advocate for the exact same thing. If change was implemented from the first cry for help, tens of women could have been saved from fearing for their safety at night.
Improvements are finally being seen, with the introduction of CCTV and floodlights into some of Sheffield’s many parks but despite these measures, the fear of assault remains prominent for women walking alone.
The nightlife in Sheffield is another defining feature of the city, and students travel from across the world to Sheffield because of its reputation. But when spiking and other attacks on women happen so commonly in our nightclubs, the negatives begin to outweigh the positives.
When University began again in September, the number of spiking victims grew week on week. In Sheffield’s student union, five women were allegedly spiked in just one night. It’s spine-tingling to see people you know becoming victims of assault. You never think it’s going to be you until it is.
In response to allegations of spiking in SU club events earlier in the year, the SU said: “We are aware that there have been several drink spiking incidents in Sheffield recently. Although this is rare in our venues, we would like to reassure students of our commitment to ensuring everyone can have a safe night out.”
Going out as a woman will never be risk-free but it is reassuring to see some actual change within nightclubs. It is a shame that it took female-led activism such as ‘Girls Night In’ to promote any change, but the progress within Sheffield clubs is applaudable. Following various campaigns, venues have introduce more anti-spiking measures and increased security, while Sheffield City Council secured £5,000 to combat drink-spiking. The University of Sheffield’s women minibus is yet another commendable measure that supports female students who walk home alone after a night out, fearing for their safety.
But despite all these measures, has anything really changed?
Drink covers, CCTV, floodlights; they are all positive things that can help increase women’s safety. But when will we introduce measures to stop men actually assaulting women?
All too often we hear the same victim-blaming: ‘she shouldn’t have walked alone’ or ‘she shouldn’t have worn that’. Microaggressions against women, rape culture, ‘boys will be boys’, locker room banter and engrained misogyny are all the things that need to be blamed. These are the things that need to be tackled. Gendered violence does not result from the fault of the women but from the mindset of the man.
So do women really feel safe in the UK at this current moment? The answer is no. Preventative measures are good in retrospect, but until we get to the root of the cause and change men’s mindsets on women, I for one do not believe we can achieve actual safety for women.
Cover image: Nobert Braun on Unsplash.com