Sexual Offenses
Dozens of officers convicted since Everard murder
Demonstration in London called for by the feminist action group “Sisters Uncut”. photo
© Lucy North/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The murder of Sarah Everard caused horror. An active police officer kidnapped, raped and murdered the London woman. Data shows that the crime was probably just the tip of an iceberg.
Since the murder of the London woman Sarah Everard by an active police officer Exactly three years ago, dozens of British officers were convicted of sexual crimes. The actual number is probably much higher, Sky News reported on Sunday. Most police forces in the country, including London’s Metropolitan Police, where Everard’s murderer worked, did not provide any data.
The officers were convicted of, among other things, rape, sexual harassment, child abuse and possession of child pornography. There were also cases of bodily harm or fraud. Sky News had sent freedom of information requests to all police departments in the UK. Data from 19 of the more than 40 agencies showed that at least 119 officers have been convicted since Everard’s murder, most of them men.
A police officer kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard on March 3, 2021 using his badge. He was therefore sentenced to life imprisonment and will probably never be released again. The act sparked a wave of anger across the country over the lack of safety for women and shone a light on the “epidemic” of violence against women and girls. An independent investigation concluded that the killer should never have been hired. Important warning signals during police checks and investigations were repeatedly ignored. This would have included a preference for extreme and violent pornography.
Not much has changed since the case
On the anniversary, activists accused the British government of failing to protect women. Since Everard’s murder, men have been responsible as perpetrators or strong suspects for the deaths of 350 women in the country, the Independent newspaper reported on Saturday, citing the Femicide Census database. “On average, a woman is killed by a man every three days,” said the initiative’s head, Karen Ingala Smith.
In 8 percent of cases, the perpetrator and victim – as in the Everard case – did not know each other beforehand. This proportion corresponds to the average since records began in 2009. So nothing has changed, criticized Ingala Smith. Among the outstanding acts was the conviction of a serial rapist who had abused and humiliated several women for almost 20 years during his time as an active police officer.
Reclaim These Streets co-founder Anna Birley told the Independent: “Women are still being murdered by men, demand for domestic violence services remains at record levels and rape is still not prosecuted.” The government does not understand the extent and is not taking meaningful protective measures, said Birley. In doing so, she lets women down.