It was the victim’s fault because she should never have “submitted” to arrest, and because she didn’t know about the legalities of arrest.
“Perhaps women need to consider in terms of the legal process, to just learn a bit about that legal process.”
Philip Allott, who oversees the North Yorkshire police, was accused of victim-blaming after saying women should “just learn a bit about that legal process” in case they are falsely arrested. He retracted his comments amid indignant calls for his resignation. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard suggested that a woman could try “waving down a bus” to escape a person they believe is pretending to be police. Pretending? If I understood correctly, the man who murdered Sarah Everard was the police.
“If a person still does not feel safe, they should consider “shouting out to a passerby, running into a house, knocking on a door, waving a bus down or, if you are in the position to do so, calling 999.”
If this is the best response the Metropolitan police in England can come up with in the wake of this appalling tragedy, then God Help Us All (and I don’t even live there.) It’s clear as glass: we’re not in this together, we’re in it alone. It’s every woman for herself.
A Twitter user said – “Women are set up to be victim-blamed along the lines of “Why was she out so late?”
She added: “Why don’t you talk about the need to vet police candidates better, weed out the bad ones and the ones who turn a blind eye, change the culture within the force?”
Not a single word or admission of culpability in the vetting of Wayne Couzens and missing (or choosing to ignore) warning signs that could have stopped him from killing. No, blame Sarah Everard, it was all her fault.
The Met is still facing questions over whether chances were missed to prevent his predatory behaviour: failures to investigate two indecent exposure incidents linked to Couzens in February, for example, and a flashing incident in 2015.
Frankly, I’m disgusted.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/01/sarah-everard-murder-police-commissioner-apologises-for-saying-women-should-be-more-streetwise