Sarah Everard murder: North Yorkshire Police announce commitment to safety of women and girls

North Yorkshire Police have announced their commitment to preventing violence against women and girls.
Flowers surround the Clapham Common bandstand memorial to murdered Sarah Everard'. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Flowers surround the Clapham Common bandstand memorial to murdered Sarah Everard'. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Flowers surround the Clapham Common bandstand memorial to murdered Sarah Everard'. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

It follows the trial this week after the murder of Sarah Everard.

Detective Superintendent Allan Harder, North Yorkshire Police’s Lead for Safeguarding, said: “Everyone has the right to feel safe”

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Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens received a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of York woman Sarah Everard.

On Monday March 3, 33-year-old Sarah Everard went missing in South London. What followed was the shocking discovery that serving police officer Wayne Couzens (although former now) had kidnapped her, under the guise of an arrest, raped and murdered her.

Following on from these chain of events, many women and girls have spoken out on social media about how unsafe they feel when walking on their own, and how they’ve lost confidence in the police force to keep them safe.

On Facebook, North Yorkshire Police shared their commitment to keeping women and girls safe, both outside and inside their homes.

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Det Supt Harder said: “For some time now the safety of women and girls has been a major concern for many. The shocking murder of Sarah Everard, originally from York, sparked an outpouring of public anger and raised questions about how we as a society, Government and key agencies can work together to stop violence.

“Preventing violence against women and girls, safeguarding victims, pursuing and prosecuting perpetrators and protecting vulnerable people is a key priority for North Yorkshire Police and has been the central strand throughout both our control strategy and the police and crime plan for a number of years.”

He added: ““However, despite the influential role we play, we recognise that violence against women and girls is not just a policing issue, but a wider societal problem which requires a collaborative solution.”

“We work very closely with key agencies such as health, child protection, housing, probation, drug and alcohol services, our commissioned service for domestic abuse IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Services) and other specialists from the voluntary sector to identify the needs of victims and ensure those needs are met through a coordinated, shared action plan.

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“We continue to work proactively with our partner agencies to identify both serial perpetrators of abuse and those who are displaying early signs of abusive behaviour. By engaging with them through support and education, we work to actively reduce the risk they pose and prevent an escalation of dangerous offending behaviour, taking enforcement action when and where required.”

You can read the full statement here: https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/news/our-commitment-to-preventing-violence-against-women-and-girls/?fbclid=IwAR2_mfS-ZqRQBXdgJ_DoXgXpmM6OtiFhBb3Nd7GMsZRhGXXkbdFiiH9OJc8