Staff, trustees and Pioneers response to sentencing of Wayne Couzens

Everything feels heavy. The news of the last two weeks is being felt by so many, but none more so than the families and loved ones of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. By the loved ones of the sadly ever-growing number of women and girls whose lives have been taken by male violence.

On Friday 17 September we were welcoming the publication of the HMIC report about violence against women and girls. A report that, rightly, highlighted that a whole system approach and radical change are needed to stop this epidemic in its tracks.In the weeks that have followed, however, change has never felt so far away.

It’s hard to continue working towards a future where domestic abuse and violence against women and girls is gone, and gone for good.

But we do continue, we have to. We have to for all the lives that have been lost and for all the lives of those at risk.

We are broken for the family and loved ones of Sarah. The pain is unimaginable. The horrific details of the last moments of her life have pierced the hearts of women across the world. Women everywhere who know Sarah was grossly let down by a system that enables male entitlement and abuse of power, and it costs women their lives. Every single day.

SafeLives strategy calls for a Whole Society change - a huge shift by politicians, media, commentators, employers and the public to challenge and break down those norms. Reducing the motivation and removing the opportunity for power to be abused.

We stand in solidarity, in anger and in fierce determination to make lasting change. Now. And for good.

As a Trustee of SafeLives, a mum of two girls and a serving police officer I was devastated yesterday to hear how Wayne Couzens abused his powers as a police officer in the most monstrous way to harm Sarah.

I echo the comments made by Suzanne today and play tribute to Sarah’s family who described her as strong, principled and a shining example to us all.

It is time for us to galvanise to create the societal shift at pace to protect all women and girls.

Say their names. Not the names of the men who used their power to take them from this earth in the most unimaginable ways.

Say their names. Hear the lives they lived, their hopes and dreams.

Say their names. Acknowledge the grief of those who knew and loved them.

Say their names. Feel the hurt of those who live in fear that their names could be added to the seemingly never-ending list of women who have died simply because they are women.

Say their names. Join together to stop this from happening again, and again, and again.

But for now, we say their names in solidarity with those who hurt at their loss.

Sarah, Sabina, Terri, Fawziyah and the countless other women killed by men. We remember you, and fight on to prevent this list from growing.

We stand in solidarity with the families of Sarah, Sabina, and countless other women. They should not be grieving today.

We are hurting.

We don’t want alarms, or more streetlights, or to be told not all men, we want to be able to live our lives without abuse, violence, or the risk of being murdered.