Green Party peer Jenny Jones has called for a 6pm curfew for men after the disappearance of Sarah Everard.
Human remains have been found and a male police officer is being held on suspicion of murder after Ms Everard, 33, vanished while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on Wednesday March 3.
Baroness Jones, who was a member of the London Assembly for many years, told peers during a debate on Wednesday: “In the week that Sarah Everard was abducted and, we suppose, killed—because remains have been found in a woodland in Kent—I argue that, at the next opportunity for any Bill that is appropriate, I might put in an amendment to create a curfew for men on the streets after 6 pm. I feel this would make women a lot safer, and discrimination of all kinds would be lessened.”
The case has sparked a debate on the safety of women with many going online to recount their own experiences ahead of a planned vigil this weekend.
“I remember a man following me as I was walking home asking for my number once and I was like ‘oh great now I have to detour so he doesn’t know where I live’,” posted journalist and writer Mollie Goodfellow.
Other women said they regularly message their friends to share their location so that they can keep track of each other and take alternative routes home when they feel they are being followed.
A vigil called “Reclaim these streets” has been organised on Facebook and is due to take place at Clapham Common bandstand in south London at 6pm on Saturday.
Women who have organised the vigil said they are “tired of being afraid” to walk in the street.
Baroness Jones’ suggestion of a curfew faced criticism,with commentators online posting it was not was not realistic for all men to face a curfew.
