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Flowers and a memorial portrait of the late Sarah Everard in London. Image: keystone
The sad truth behind this simple text message.
Numerous people are discussing male violence on social media under the hashtag #Textmewhenyougethome. The trigger for this is an alleged murder of a young English woman.
Tragic incident of March 3
At 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 3, Sarah Everard left her colleague’s house. His way home from south London, which he wanted to cover on foot, should take about 50 minutes. As witnesses would later say, Everard took several steps to get home safely. She put on brightly colored clothes, left long before midnight, spoke to her boyfriend on the phone, and chose a well-lit route.
Still, he should never make it home.
Everard was feverishly searched for over a week. Then, on March 12, the sad reality: the 33-year-old is no longer alive. Police confirmed that a body found in Kent was missing Sarah Everard.
A police officer was arrested in connection with the discovery of the body. The 48-year-old is under investigation for kidnapping and murder.
Everand’s death sets off a wave
Everard’s disappearance and his tragic death sparked a lot of reactions on social media. Women from around the world shared the steps they would take to get home safely. Many wrote that when they said goodbye they said “write to me when you’re home.”
This resulted in a new hashtag that has been circulating ever since: #Textmewhenyougethome.
Some women said that for them “write to me when you’re home” would have replaced “bye” or “bye.” You are used to saying this when you say goodbye. Some wondered if the men would say this to each other when they returned home.
As if that wasn’t enough, some women said they would hold the key in their fist to defend themselves. Others said they pretended to be talking on the phone all the way home. Walking the lighted streets and sharing the location live are also among the safety measures that many mentioned.
One post that received a lot of attention was that of influencer Lucy Mountain. She explained on Instagram what “#Textmewhenyougethome” really means to many women.
The literal translation:
Lucy Mountain’s mail hit a nerve. More than 2.5 million people liked the post on Monday morning. Author Chris Hemmings’ appearance on the BBC also caused a stir. He spoke vehemently that it was a “male violence” problem. It’s not about how women should behave differently. “Women are the victims,” Hemmings said. It is up to the men to make a change now.
The wave of social networks spills into the street
Solidarity and sympathy for Everard’s sad fate is no longer limited to social media.
Memorials for the deceased were erected in numerous cities. Even Duchess Kate (39) insisted on placing flowers at Everard’s makeshift memorial on Saturday.
But it wasn’t just about putting up flowers: on Saturday night hundreds of people gathered in London’s Clapham Park for the vigil. An official call for a vigil for the “Take Back These Streets” initiative (for example: Take Back These Streets) had been withdrawn by organizers after talks with the police about an implementation in compliance with Corona’s measures failed. But many did not let that stop them.
During the vigil, there were wild scenes: videos of the police operation on Saturday night showed how the policemen forcibly took several women. A woman was pushed to the ground. “Officers at the scene faced a very difficult decision,” a Scotland Yard spokeswoman later justified the operation, which resulted in four arrests. People stayed together at night and the risk of transmission of the coronavirus was very high.
The harsh police crackdown on Saturday night sparked new protests. Hundreds of people gathered in London on Sunday to demonstrate against violence against women and the actions of the police.
Women demonstrate in London against the police action on Sunday March 14. Image: keystone
Meanwhile, the “Reclaim these Streets” movement received nearly £ 500,000 in donations on Sunday morning. Originally, it was intended to pay the fines that organizers would have had to wait for had they carried out the vigil as planned.
Jamie Klingler, one of the organizers of “Reclaim these Streets”, told the British PA news agency that it felt like being in the middle of a tsunami with half the population (targeting men) saying, “This is your problem”. You have to have it under control now, we won’t take it anymore. “(Cma / sda / dpa)
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