Met must reform urgently to stop violence against women and girls

Women’s Aid Chief Executive, Farah Nazeer said:

“Yet again, a serving Met Police Officer has abused his position of trust and authority to carry out sickening violent and depraved acts against women.

We continue to uncover systemic failings, missed opportunities and an inadequate approach to recruitment, vetting, misconduct and standards in the Met and other police forces. There are now countless reviews and recommendations into what’s gone wrong and what needs to change – but we are failing to see a response which matches the scale and seriousness of the issue.

The ‘it’s your word against mine’ attitude is a sickening throwback to a time when misogyny was accepted, but yet again, these deep-rooted misogynistic attitudes within the Met appear to remain unchanged despite the lessons that should have been learned following the horrific abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

It is abundantly clear that little has changed since the sentencing of another former Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

Again, there were red flags and warning signs – Carrick had come to the attention of police over nine incidents, including rape allegations, but was still allowed to continue in his role as an Armed Police Officer

Nicknames like ‘Bastard Dave’ are not normal and should have raised concerns.

We now need urgent answers.  Sorry is not an acceptable response to the women whose lives have been ruined by Carrick, nor is it enough for the thousands more women and girls who have lost all confidence and trust in the Met Police.

This pattern must stop now. How many more women must experience violence at the hands of serving Police Officers before the Met properly address this serious and ongoing issue?

Organisations such as Women’s Aid have dedicated training programmes to ensure that all police staff are trained adequately to improve the response given to all women who have experienced violence and domestic abuse, but violence against women and girls has its roots in misogyny, which has been allowed to fester within the Met Police for far too long.

Urgent reform must address the deep-seated inequalities and sexist attitudes that still exist within the Met and across so many other police forces.”