The fifth anniversary of the horrific rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer serves as a stark reminder of the deeply entrenched misogyny within law enforcement and the broader criminal justice system, prompting renewed calls for radical cultural and systemic reform from victim support organisations. Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, articulated this urgent demand, stating that while some actions have been initiated to improve the police response to violence against women and girls (VAWG) since Everard’s death, significantly more is required to dismantle the "rooted and systemic" misogyny that continues to undermine women’s safety and trust in those sworn to protect them.
The Catalyst for Outrage: The Sarah Everard Case
On March 3, 2021, Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was abducted, raped, and murdered by Wayne Couzens, a Metropolitan Police officer, as she walked home in South London. Her disappearance and the subsequent revelation of her killer’s identity sent shockwaves across the United Kingdom, igniting widespread public outrage and triggering a national conversation about women’s safety, police conduct, and systemic misogyny. The fact that a serving police officer used his position of power and authority to commit such a heinous crime profoundly eroded public trust, particularly among women, who suddenly faced the terrifying prospect of danger from the very institutions meant to safeguard them. Protests, including the "Reclaim These Streets" vigils, erupted across the country, demanding accountability and tangible change to ensure women’s safety.
Women’s Aid’s Urgent Call for Systemic Reform
Farah Nazeer’s statement on the fifth anniversary underscored the enduring fear among women and the critical need for a fundamental shift in police culture. "Her murder, by a serving police officer, exposed the entrenched misogyny within the police force, leaving countless women fearful of those who are meant to protect them," Nazeer commented. She emphasised that despite various initiatives, the core issues persist. Women’s Aid asserts that true change necessitates a "radical cultural shift where police proactivity in engaging with specialists and survivors is the norm, as opposed to the exception or the pilot." This proactive engagement, Nazeer stressed, would be the "litmus test of a changed culture which will deliver for survivors of VAWG."
The organisation highlights persistent failings within the criminal justice system, noting that "survivors are experiencing poor and unsupportive responses from the police and the broader criminal justice system, with many choosing not to report the crimes against them for fear of not being believed." This trepidation is particularly acute for Black, minoritised, and migrant women, whose historical and collective experiences of interacting with law enforcement exacerbate their fear and reluctance to seek justice. The intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender often leads to compounded distrust and a heightened sense of vulnerability when engaging with state authorities.
The Scale of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Police Misconduct
The statistics surrounding VAWG in the UK paint a grim picture, reinforcing the urgent need for comprehensive reform. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), an estimated 1.7 million women experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023. Additionally, 769,000 women experienced sexual assault, including rape, in the same period. Despite these staggering figures, reporting rates remain low, and conviction rates for sexual offences, particularly rape, are alarmingly poor. For example, in the year ending March 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reported a conviction rate of just 5.8% for all rape offences recorded by the police. This significant attrition rate throughout the criminal justice process contributes to survivors’ disillusionment and reluctance to come forward.
Beyond the challenges in prosecuting VAWG, numerous reports have detailed widespread misconduct within police forces themselves. The Casey Review, published in March 2023, following an independent review of the Metropolitan Police, found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic. It uncovered systemic failures in vetting, misconduct procedures, and an inability to root out officers who pose a risk to the public, particularly women. The review highlighted how poor behaviour and discrimination were often tolerated or ignored, creating an environment where officers like Couzens could operate unchecked. These findings directly corroborate Women’s Aid’s assertion that misogyny remains "rooted and systemic" within the police.
A Chronology of Inquiries and Slow Progress
In the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder, a series of inquiries and reviews were commissioned, aiming to address the systemic issues exposed.
- March 2021: Immediate public outcry and protests, leading to calls for police accountability and women’s safety measures.
- September 2021: Wayne Couzens pleads guilty to murder, rape, and kidnap.
- October 2021: Couzens is sentenced to a whole life order, meaning he will never be released from prison.
- October 2021: The government launches its new "Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy," promising a "whole system approach" to prevent VAWG, support victims, and pursue perpetrators.
- November 2021: Dame Elish Angiolini is appointed to lead an independent inquiry into the issues raised by the Sarah Everard case.
- March 2023: The Casey Review is published, detailing institutional failings within the Metropolitan Police.
- January 2024: Part one of the Angiolini Inquiry is published, recommending significant changes to police vetting, culture, and accountability, including a "presumption of dismissal" for officers found guilty of serious misconduct.
Despite these high-profile investigations and the government’s acceptance of their recommendations, progress on implementation has been "far too slow," according to Women’s Aid. Nazeer specifically pointed out that "in September 2025 [sic – likely intended as September 2023], more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales had still not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences and we are yet to see active engagement with domestic abuse organisations across the country." This critical lag in translating recommendations into concrete, widespread policy and practice undermines public confidence and leaves women vulnerable.
Challenges in Implementation and the Trust Deficit
The gap between policy announcements and tangible, on-the-ground change is a significant hurdle. Police forces face immense pressure to reform, but the cultural shift required is deep-seated and complex. Issues such as inadequate training, a "canteen culture" that tolerates sexism, and insufficient resources for vetting and misconduct investigations continue to impede progress. The reluctance of some forces to actively engage with specialist organisations, as highlighted by Women’s Aid, is particularly concerning. These organisations possess invaluable expertise, working directly with survivors and understanding the nuanced challenges they face. Their exclusion from the reform process risks creating policies that are theoretical rather than practically effective.
The pervasive trust deficit among women, exacerbated by cases like Everard’s and subsequent reports of police misconduct (such as David Carrick’s serial rape and sexual assault convictions), means that even well-intentioned reforms may struggle to regain public confidence if they are not seen to be genuinely transformative. For Black, minoritised, and migrant women, this distrust is often layered with experiences of racial profiling, discrimination, and a historical lack of protection from state institutions, making their fear of reporting even more profound.
Calls for a Holistic, System-Wide Approach
To ever achieve meaningful change, Women’s Aid stresses that the government must collaborate with specialist organisations and survivors to develop comprehensive training programs that explicitly address sexism, misogyny, and VAWG. This training must then be "delivered to the width and breadth of the criminal justice system." The proposed solution is not merely incremental adjustments but a "complete, system-wide holistic reform of the police, and across all sectors of the justice system… to ensure that women are protected from predatory men." This holistic approach acknowledges that VAWG is not solely a police issue but a societal problem requiring coordinated efforts across law enforcement, the judiciary, social services, education, and public health.
The government has made a "deeply welcome pledge to halve VAWG in the next decade." However, Nazeer warns that for this ambitious goal to become a reality, "there must be a whole-system response, going beyond the reforms to the criminal justice system alone." This underscores the need for preventative measures, educational initiatives, and cultural shifts that challenge misogynistic attitudes in society at large, not just within institutions.
The Road Ahead: Measuring Meaningful Change
Five years after Sarah Everard’s murder, the focus must shift from announcements, reports, reviews, and commitments to decisive action. The true measure of progress will not be the number of inquiries launched or strategies published, but the tangible improvements in women’s safety, their trust in the police, and the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in delivering justice for survivors.
Women’s Aid’s "litmus test" of police proactivity and engagement with specialists and survivors offers a clear benchmark for evaluating genuine cultural change. Until police forces across the country actively and consistently partner with domestic abuse organisations, integrate survivor-informed training, and robustly address internal misogyny, the promise of a safer future for women will remain unfulfilled. Sarah Everard, and the countless women who have lost their lives or suffered violence at the hands of predatory men, deserve more than pledges; they deserve a system that truly protects them and holds perpetrators accountable. The fight for this fundamental right continues, with the anniversary serving as a poignant reminder of the work that remains.
