Five years have passed since the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, yet for many women in London and across the United Kingdom, little has changed in their daily sense of safety or their trust in those meant to protect them. On March 3, 2026, the anniversary of Everard’s death, the grief and anger that first swept the nation remain as raw as ever, underpinned by persistent concerns about police culture, male violence, and the adequacy of reforms promised in the aftermath of her killing.
Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was abducted, raped, and murdered on March 3, 2021, by Wayne Couzens, a serving officer with the Metropolitan Police. According to BBC News, the details of her murder—being lured into a car by an officer, shown a warrant card, and likely strangled with a police belt—shocked the nation and shattered the illusion of police as unequivocal protectors. Her body was later found in Kent, and Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life term in prison for his crimes.
The immediate aftermath saw an outpouring of public grief and fury, particularly among women who saw themselves in Sarah’s shoes—young, professional, and simply trying to make her way home. The murder also shone a harsh spotlight on the Metropolitan Police, with subsequent investigations revealing deep-rooted institutional problems. As reported by MyLondon, the force was found to be institutionally racist, homophobic, and misogynistic, raising uncomfortable questions about how someone like Couzens could hide in plain sight within its ranks.
For women living and working along Sarah’s route home from Clapham to Brixton, the sense of vulnerability has only intensified. Mishelle Leiva, 27, who regularly walks through Clapham Common, told BBC News, “It seems like it just happened yesterday. I remember Sarah's case. It was really sad and upsetting because this was my local park—my sister makes her way home from school passing this park.”
Women like Kristina Candy, 27, have made significant changes to their routines, opting to live within a ten-minute walk of a busy, well-lit station and refusing lifts from strangers. “When I was discussing with my family that I wanted to move [to Clapham]… they were like are you sure? Is it safe? It doesn't sound safe,” she recalled. The Angiolini Inquiry, established to investigate how Couzens was able to carry out his crime, confirmed that such habitual decision-making is now commonplace for women, who remain “on high alert”—particularly at night and in secluded areas.
The second part of the Angiolini Inquiry, published in December 2025, found that many of the recommendations from its first phase had not been fully implemented. According to Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, a particularly alarming gap remains: the recommendation that officers with prior sexual offence convictions or cautions be barred from policing has still not been universally applied. Gemma Sherrington, CEO of Refuge, stated, “Five years on from the horrific murder of Sarah Everard at the hands of former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens, women and girls’ confidence in policing remains at crisis point.”
Sherrington went on to highlight that, despite promises of reform and some welcome policy advancements, “women and girls deserve more. They need to see meaningful, lasting change to prevent atrocities like those committed against Sarah from ever happening again.” She pointed out that the Metropolitan Police had, in the past five years, allowed thousands of officers to join or remain in the force without proper vetting, including figures such as David Carrick and Cliff Mitchell—both accused of serious offences.
In response to mounting pressure, the government’s recent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy committed to requiring all police officers to hold and maintain vetting clearance and to strengthen suspension requirements for officers under investigation for specified VAWG offences. However, as Refuge noted, implementation of these measures is still pending more than 18 months after the government took office.
Meanwhile, the lived reality for many women remains bleak. MyLondon reported that since Sarah’s murder, the number of police convictions for sexual offences has risen by more than a third. Between 2018 and 2021, 30 officers were convicted of such offences; since the start of 2022, that figure has jumped to 59. This trend has only deepened the sense of betrayal and fear among women, many of whom say they still feel “endangered” by male violence and must constantly take extra precautions to protect themselves.
Natasha Waugh, 41, who grew up near Clapham Common, expressed her frustration: “She thought she'd be safe and someone took her life. That's what makes it worse. You're not serving and protecting us. You hurt someone you're meant to serve and protect.” She added, “As far as we're concerned, as women, we're the most endangered species. We can't go anywhere without being harassed, bothered or followed. Tell a man no, and he hits you because you rejected him.”
The trauma of the murder and the subsequent police response—particularly the violent clashes at a vigil for Sarah near Clapham Common—have left lasting scars. Nicole Smiren, 67, whose daughter was caught up in the clashes, said, “It's shameful. The police, everything, how they heckled people...they sort of just went mad corralling people. The whole thing was shameful.”
For younger women, the impact is equally profound. Ella Veitch, 22, told MyLondon that the murder has fundamentally altered her perception of the police: “It definitely sits in the back of my mind for sure. It's kind of like your first instinct would be to approach them or ask for help. But then there's always that recoil, you know, that second thought.”
Campaigners like Patsy Stevenson, who was arrested at the vigil for Everard and has since become a prominent advocate for women’s safety, say that the problem goes beyond individual officers. “I've been harassed and assaulted multiple times since,” she told BBC News. “It doesn't stop.” Stevenson, like many others, has resorted to using safety apps that send alerts with a tap, describing the need for such measures as “dystopian.”
According to government figures published in December 2025, one in eight women in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking in the year ending March 2025. Nahar Choudhury, Chief Executive of Solace Women's Aid, told BBC News that what’s needed is for “predatory men to modify their behaviour,” rather than expecting women to constantly adapt their lives for safety.
Despite cross-government strategies and dozens of recommendations from the Angiolini Inquiry, the consensus among women interviewed by BBC News is that the situation has not improved—and for some, it has worsened. Shareece Curran, 22, summed up the mood: “Living in London over the past few years, as a woman, there are a lot more scary things happening, or a lot more things that we know about. It's getting quite bold, the things that men are doing to women.”
As the nation marks five years since Sarah Everard’s murder, the calls for accountability and real change grow ever louder. For now, women continue to alter their routines, trust remains fractured, and the hope for meaningful reform is tempered by a sense of urgency that, for many, feels as pressing as it did the night Sarah Everard disappeared.