#ReclaimTheseStreets vigil set to take place in Margate

The vigil follows the discovery of Sarah Everard's body in Great Chart

UPDATE: This event is cancelled

A #ReclaimTheseStreets solidarity vigil is due to be held in Margate on Saturday, from 6pm. All from the Thanet area are welcome.

It is scheduled to run at the same time as a vigil in Clapham for Sarah Everard whose body was found in Great Chart after a large police operation.

Sarah had been at a friend’s house in Clapham on the evening of Wednesday, 3 March. At approximately 9pm she left  and began walking to her home address in Brixton. She had not been seen or heard from since then and a police operation was mounted. On March 9  officers arrested a man at an address in Deal  in connection with the disappearance of Sarah

The man, named as Wayne Couzens, is a serving Metropolitan Police officer. He has since been arrested on suspicion of the kidnap and murder of Sarah.

He has been further detained in custody at a London police station and an application to extend his detention was granted at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.

A woman aged in her 30s, who was arrested at the same time on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April.

The investigation is being led by Specialist Crime detectives who are drawing on expertise and skills from hundreds of colleagues across the Met. They are also being supported by Kent Police.

Following the arrest many women have spoken out on social media about safety fears. A vigil, due to take place at Clapham Common bandstand in south London on Saturday, has been organised although the Met Police has reversed its position on allowing the event to go ahead due to covid restrictions.

Organisers of the vigil in Margate say strict Covid-19 safety guidelines, including compulsory mask-wearing and social distancing, will be observed.

It will be held at the Main Sands steps in Margate tomorrow from 6pm

An organiser said: “This event is for and about those who identify as women and non binary, but open to all. Bring a light and wear something black to remember those we’ve lost.”

People are asked to tweet #ReclaimTheseStreets and/or light a candle at 6pm on Saturday if they cannot attend because of your location, self isolating or shielding.

The Clapham Common vigil, if it goes ahead, will be livestreamed at: https://fb.me/e/25nqZlDAg

The event page says: “In Clapham, police told women not to go out at night this week. Women are not the problem.

“We’ve all been following the tragic case of Sarah Everard over the last week. This is a vigil for Sarah, but also for all women who feel unsafe, who go missing from our streets and who face violence every day.”

25 Comments

  1. I would attend this Vigil, tomorrow. But as we are still in lock down, and attending will be breaking the law. I will give it a miss. I feel the murder of this poor woman is being hijacked by some people for their own political gains. Against lockdown etc.

  2. “I feel the murder of this poor woman is being hijacked by some people for their own political gains. Against lockdown etc.”

    Good thing opinions are subjective, innit.

    Police have made unequivocal statements today that anyone organising these will face a £10k fine and anyone attending will likely be arrested and fined too.

  3. Why hold a Vigil for this woman particularly? Far too many women (and even more men) have tragically met violent death on our streets.
    If you really must single out this particular tragedy for special attention, then do so in a covid secure way.
    It would be terrible if as a consequence of these vigils someone caught CV and died.

  4. I do hope the Organisers of this vigil have their £10000 ready for the fine they will get. I just can not see how this is not breaking lockdown rules. This really is not a necessary journey.

      • Except, it hadn’t been declared illegal. You should probably read the actual judgement before making yourself look like a massive, massive wally.

  5. Being used by rabid feminists & attention seekers, who due to their need for constant attention somehow have turned a horrific but rare abduction & murder of a woman into twotter ramblings about once being nervous because some guy was walking behind me at 10 in the evening etc.

    As we saw with the Harry & Meghan debacle having any kind of non woke/differing viewpoint is not allowed & you have to be shouted down/cancelled-apparently Covid laws aren’t important & protesting about a murder of somebody they never knew is everything to them. Of course the authorities shot themselves in the foot by bowing to the race card & allowing the mass BLM protests/law breaking all over the country back in the summer, so it is hard to justify smaller groups of women not breaking any law not being allowed to march.

      • Ah yes, the refuse of those with no argument who cannot hear a different viewpoint than their own & try to shut that person up with all they have-insults & playing the cancel/race/misogyny/homophobic/transphobic etc card. Not sure exactly what else you would call women making the murder of another woman all about them on social media really.

        • Steve, you’re just proffering altright culture war tropes. Nothing of substance. Its telling you want to undermine womens voices sharing their own experiences of this kind of behaviour to show how widespread it is.

          Got a guilty conscience or something? Certainly seems that way with how defensive you’re getting over this…

    • But don’t worry Steve, even one person protest will be banned very soon under the sentencing act being rushed through parliament due for 2nd reading monday. That will include people like yourself proselytising on here/facebook etc.

      • I am all for protest-as long as it isn’t putting peoples lives at risk during a pandemic while we are still in lockdown mode, or violent like the BLM ones.

        • The violence at the BLM protests came from far right/neo nazi agitators (the biggest domestic terrorism threat currently) and those in the DFLA(football lads alliance).

          Outdoor SILENT protest, has minimal risk. Its almost as if you’ve paid ZERO attention to the mechanics of covid spread (hence no real rise in cases after BLM protests).

    • In the past decade, there were 4,493 male victims of killings and 2,075 female victims (31%) in England and Wales. More than nine out of 10 killers were men.

      About 57% of female victims were killed by someone they knew, most commonly a partner or ex-partner. This compares with 39% of men.

      So, whilst more men get killed, many more men kill and it is a fact that more men kill women. This fact is the part that stirred up a lot of emotion in the 1 out of 6 women who statistically will at some point in their life be sexually harassed.

      What is your viewpoint based on? Forgive me but it sounds like privilege rather than any lived experience of oppression.

  6. As at present we are not allowed to meet more than one person out-of-doors, I should think it’s easy to ban such gatherings.

  7. There is a reason why mass gatherings aren’t allowed at the moment and, although I completely agree with the right to peaceful protests, I wonder if anyone intending to attend tonight’s public vigil has thought about the risk they’d be taking in spreading Covid. Numbers in Thanet are still amongst the highest in the South East and there is potential of them going higher still, therefore causing the possible deaths of many other people. My view is that these irresponsible people are being utterly selfish.

    • ” I wonder if anyone intending to attend tonight’s public vigil has thought about the risk they’d be taking in spreading Covid. ”

      Outdoors, silent vigil = minimal risk of covid spread. Its almost as if you’ve ignored ALL the research done RE schools and mitigation of aerosol spread.

      “My view is that these irresponsible people are being utterly selfish.”

      Good things opinions are subjective. Its my opinion you’re projecting you’re own selfishness on to others because it makes you feel awkward in yourself that you hold said views.

  8. Been on this planet many many years, Terrible things happen. In general the law does pretty well at bringing people to justice. This latest fad of having to have some ‘hash tag protest’ is an idea created by a minority on social media who get a kick out of doing it. The vast majority of males are law abiding and treat all with respect.

    • “This latest fad of having to have some ‘hash tag protest’ is an idea created by a minority on social media who get a kick out of doing it.”

      Bollocks.

      1) Explain the winter of discontent.
      2) Explain the poll tax riots.
      3) Explain g20 riots.
      4) Explain Orgreave.

      All before social media was a thing.

      “The vast majority of males are law abiding and treat all with respect.”

      Surprise surprise, you’re proffering the “notallmen” trope that has been seen to be coming from a LOT of known misogynists and “red pill”/”pick up artists” accounts on social media the past week.

  9. It’s true that not all men break the law and/or are violent to women. It may well be true that, as Paul says,most men are law-abiding and treat women with respect.

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