MP pays emotional tribute to Sarah Everard after ‘outpouring of collective rage’

Labour’s Rosie Duffield has given an emotional speech about the disappearance of Sarah Everard, who was last seen on 3rd March in south-west London.

The MP for Canterbury was speaking after a statement from Dame Cressida Dick, the commissioner of The Metropolitan Police informed that a man has been arrested in Kent under suspicion of kidnap and murder, along with a woman who was arrested for assisting an offender.

The speech Duffield made was during the International Women’s Day debate.

“Every single week, pandemic or not, women are murdered by men,” She said standing in the Commons.

“The outpouring of collective rage by women over the last 24 hours shows that women are tired. We are tired of having to preempt possible violence, tired of having to risk assess every ordinary, everyday action, every hour of every day of our lives. We are tired of having to justify every plain and simple choice we make, every opinion we hold, every aspect of our appearance.”

This speech comes after “Reclaim These Streets” trended on Twitter following the last night’s news about Sarah Everard. Women took to the microblogging site to express their anguish, sadness and experiences of being a woman fearing men while going about their daily business, saying the precautions they took to avoid being sexually assaulted or harassed.

Duffield has spoken before about violence against women in the House of Commons. In 2019, she bravely spoke about her own experience as a victim of domestic violence.

Duffield’s address to the Commons was along with Jess Phillips who read out all the names who have died at the hands of men. This is something the MP for Birmingham Yardley does each and every International Women’s Day.

Bell Riberio-Addy, Sarah’s local MP for the constituency of Streatham also offered moving words.

Anyone who requires help or support can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline which is open 24/7 365 days per year on 0808 2000 247 or via their website https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/