James O'Brien caller explains how men can be less threatening to women at night
11 March 2021, 13:43 | Updated: 11 March 2021, 17:26
Caller explains how men can be less threatening to women
This is the moment a James O'Brien caller explained how men can be less threatening to women at night.
Caller Sian's exchange with James O'Brien comes as many women have revealed their personal routines for feeling safe in public following Sarah Everard's disappearance.
Ms Everard was a 33-year-old marketing executive from London, went missing last Wednesday as she was walking home from a friend's house in Clapham just after 9pm.
A serving Metropolitan Police officer was later arrested on suspicion of her murder, along with another woman for assisting a suspected offender.
Caller's moving story of helping a young girl
On Wednesday, human remains were found in a woodland area in Kent. Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said identification could take "considerable time".
Having been asked by James what it means for a man to be "unthreatening" to women at night, Sian explained: "Unthreatening at night in the dark [means] not walking behind a woman slowly and staying there.
"So if you're chatting on the phone to someone, then you are less threatening. If you cross the street away from her you are less threatening.
'Men don't listen when we say we don't feel safe'
"If you try not to overtake her you are less threatening. These are things that people [have] indicated would be less threatening.
"But if there's a man who is...staying behind you [and] not saying a word, [then] that is a little bit threatening because you can't see him.
"You can't know what he's going to do, and the fact of the matter is that that's a scary thought."
READ MORE: Sarah Everard: what is known about the case so far
READ MORE: Sarah Everard: Timeline of 33-year-old’s disappearance as human remains found
Eddie Mair reads out phone numbers for abused women to receive support
If you have been affected by any of the above and need emotional support the following organisations can help:
Rape Crisis England & Wales - 0808 802 9999
Samaritans - 116 123
Suzy Lamplugh Trust - 0808 802 0300
Refuge - 0808 2000 247
The Survivors Trust - 0808 801 0818
