Almost three weeks have passed since the disappearance and subsequent murder of Sarah Everard whilst returning home from a friends house on 3 March 2021. In the time since, there has been outrage at the sheer amount of victim blaming, police presence at peaceful vigils and the proposed introduction of a new bill aimed at reducing accessibility to protest.
Yet to most women in the UK, the fate of Sarah Everard is a real and constant fear. Local Sheffield campaign, Our Bodies Our Streets, recognises this and is working tirelessly to improve the safety of women in the city.
Our Bodies Our Streets was founded by Evie Hairsine in the summer of 2020, who said that she “felt suffocated and alienated by the misogynistic abuse I was facing when all I wanted to do was exist in my body and use it like any human being should be able to”. Now, the anti-street harassment campaign is entirely student-led and focuses on “reclaiming the streets of Sheffield – both physically and politically – to empower people to use outdoor spaces without fear of abuse”.
Whilst most women feel unsafe on the streets in general and, like Sarah Everard, do everything they can to protect themselves, Our Bodies Our Streets has chosen to look more closely at how women can feel safe when exercising outside.
With the current lockdown taking place in the winter months, the lack of daylight means that women have significantly less time to get out and exercise before dark. Our Bodies Our Streets believes that women “shouldn’t have to adjust their walking route to go through well-lit areas so they feel safe”.
Kerry Lindeque, spokesperson for Our Bodies Our Streets, strongly believes that “we should be allowed to exercise where we want, when we want and how we want. Just like any man”.
Following Everard’s murder, a survey was released by UN Women UK detailing that in the UK, 97% of women aged 18-24 have experienced some form of sexual harrassment. To most women, this statistic is not surprising and through their Safer Parks After Dark campaign, Lindeque says that “we want public spaces to be re-designed with women, and their safety, in mind”.
Although Our Bodies Our Streets has been operating for nearly a year, there is no doubt that the tragic loss of Sarah Everard has generated welcome attention to campaigns such as this. Lindeque recognises that because “we have increased attention from the media and public right now, it’s so important that we use it to make real political change, especially with Safer Parks After Dark”.
Whilst the death of Sarah Everard should have been avoided, it is clear now more than ever that systematic change is needed in order to ensure the safety of women. Green Party associate Baroness Jones has made that clear through a call for a 6pm curfew for men.
Despite Baroness Jones admitting later that this proposal was not entirely serious, it highlights that the problem does not lie with women and with 66% of parliament consisting of men, this comes as no surprise.
Evidently, change needs to begin on a smaller scale. Speaking for the campaign, Lindeque recognises that “better sex education at schools and more bystander intervention training” are the stepping stones to larger scale levels of reform both publicly and politically.
Not only this but Lindeque advocates for “increased accountability for politicians or prominent figures who are sexist and higher prosecution rates in rape trials”, showing that Our Bodies Our Streets understands why sexism is preventing women from feeling safe on Sheffield streets and wants to do everything they can to combat this.
Looking to the future, Our Bodies Our Streets is looking to expand their campaign nationally and have joined local MP, Olivia Blake, in order to start pressuring the government for “increased spending towards safety measures and accountability and transparency when doing so”.
On a local level, Lindeque explains that they are “in the process of designing temporary lighting intervention in a Sheffield park in order to make the space feel safer and show the council how important safety measures are in Sheffield’s green spaces” and also have “bystander intervention training coming up in the next few months” as part of their new project based around allyship.
Our Bodies Our Streets is a small campaign run entirely by students and therefore doesn’t receive outside funding. The campaign believes that “the victims of public harassment should not be paying for the solution” and are asking those who identify as allies to donate to the cause.
Our Bodies Our Streets can be found on Instagram and Facebook as @ourbodiesourstreets and the link to donate is: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/saferparksafterdark?utm_term=JRY73Jp6k&fbclid=IwAR2PfPHSLUPP0ivMsGCAix2dERvcHkgV55__0Ou9PY0XjV_x9nGxY8XY3ag
Image: instagram, Our Bodies Our Streets
