As we woke this morning to wish our mums a happy and restful day, my mind could not, and has not moved away from the scenes last night on Clapham Common as women stood, with candles lit, at a vigil for a murdered sister, and became embroiled in a horrendous fracas, manhandled and verbally abused by men.

Across the country the call to Reclaim These Streets saw communities holding a candle-lit vigil on the doorstep. In Clapham, members of the local community each attended the place where Sarah Everard was last seen, to pay respects and raise awareness of the plight of women. That scene on the Common was one of quiet sadness and despair, women holding, along with candles, banners to protest the gender-based violence that is still on the increase, and placards calling for safety for women. Yet that quiet reflection was invaded. Those women, many already traumatised from their own experiences of physical assault, sexual assault, and rape, mums and mums-to-be, nans and grandmothers watched as the enforcement service descended on their grief; the police showing a complete lack of sensitivity for a community struggling with loss, arrested grieving women, pinning some to the floor, and handed out extortionate fines under the guise of Covid-19 legislation. Those attending wore masks, and were socially distanced, at least until the state troopers led the event into chaos.
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