Women in the UK and worldwide have recently brought up concern for their wellbeing and safety after the murder of Sarah Everard on the 13th March 2021, after going missing walking home from her friend’s house. Many women later took to the streets of London to attended a vigil in memory of Sarah, and stand up for Women’s rights and safety. But now, there are numerous concerns that the significant topic has only been raised, because a Caucasian woman was murdered. So, how has the unfortunate death of Sarah affected people’s views on the safety of women, especially those of ethnic minorities?

The conversation of how women of ethnic minorities are often overlooked has been a key question to many, following the tragedy of Sarah’s murder. Specifically, cases such as the horrific murder of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, who were both women of colour and killed in June, did not have the same attention and public outcry as Sarah did. Moreover, there was not as much media coverage, despite the inappropriate conduct of the police who were part of the investigation, as well as senior politicians’ response in comparison to the outcry from Sarah’s murder.

I asked my sister Jana, how she feels as a teenager of ethnic minority about her safety on the streets. She told me, “The recent events have really made me rethink how vulnerable women are, it just highlights how much work we need to do as society to overcome the challenge’s women face on a daily basis.” She also added “It’s scary to think we may matter less as we are not only female but are females from an ethnic minority, so could essentially be deemed as “less important”, we need to get to a place in society where each case is looked at equally with equal understanding.”

I also questioned some people in my local area who wished to remain anonymous, for their views and concerns on this.

There was a general consensus that it had taken the murder of a white women, for people to finally understand that this has been a problem in society for a long time. One individual also said to me, “It shocks me how this problem has only risen to the surface now. Women are vulnerable in society, and the events over the past year have really highlighted this, however it shouldn’t have to take all this time until people understand that this is a real problem!”

In conclusion, the conversations I have had with people have ultimately sparked the same message across everyone I spoke to. Why has it taken the murder of Sarah Everard and not the tragic deaths of women of colour for society to care about female safety?