‘Lives are at stake’: Ministers warned predators ‘continue to roam freely’ since murder of Sarah Everard
Sarah Everard report calls for urgent action to protect women’s safety
- Lady Elish Angiolini has called for urgent action to protect women in public spaces, releasing a major report four-and-a-half-years after the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens.
- The report identifies "critical failures" in recording data on attacks against women and a "scattergun approach" to prevention, noting that women continue to live in fear.
- Thirteen recommendations were issued, advocating for a "whole society" approach and nationwide police programmes, while expressing disappointment that earlier recommendations remain unimplemented.
- Key concerns include men with sexual offence convictions not being automatically barred from policing and a quarter of police forces lacking specialist policies for investigating sexual offences.
- The inquiry found that violence against women and girls, despite being a "national threat", lacks adequate funding and a unified approach across police forces.