The U.K Proposed Curfew for men: Outrageous or wake up call?
- Prisha
- Apr 6, 2021
- 2 min read
What it is: Baroness Jenny Jones proposed a 6 PM curfew for men in Britain, arguing that it would make women in the U.K feel much safer.
Why: This was in response to the murder of Sarah Everdard. Sarah Everdard was a 33 year-old woman, who lived in Brixton, but was originally from New York. She disappeared while walking home from a friend's house to her own on March 3rd, 2021. The route was supposed to take fifty minutes to go down. She called her boyfriend for fifteen minutes of the way. She was last seen at 9:30 PM on the same night. Her murderer was a 48-year old man named Wayne Couzen. Sarah's first post-mortem turned up to be inconclusive, so her family are waiting on a second one.
General public response: This curfew proposition was not to be taken at face value. It was a rhetoric. However, the general public responded with extreme outrage and hate.
Additional thoughts:This proved the exact double standards that Ms. Jones sought to prove. Most of the assaults that happen to women aren't caused by strangers, but by people they know, so, a 6 PM curfew wouldn't really help anyone. What Baroness Jones wanted to prove, however, was that women are constantly policed and told to modify their behaviours, even when they're often the ones being assaulted. They're told to "cover up, don't go out by yourself after a certain time, carry your keys in between your fingers, have pepper spray." These are casual curfews and regulations that are regularly imposed upon women, supposedly "for their own safety." If a woman was assaulted in any manner and she was not dressed like a member of the Inuit people, and was out at any time after 8 PM, it would be implied that it was her fault. The assaulters are punished far less than the victims, who have done nothing wrong. However, when the same standard of punishment is applied to the assaulter, men, everyone is enraged all of a sudden. I'm not saying all men are assaulters, or deserve punishment. But I'm saying that when all women are punished for something any of them couldn't even control, no one says anything about the unfairness of it. But when all men are punished for something a few of them perpetrated, oh gosh how could they ever do such a thing? This is the kind of gender bias that so many people hold, and the kind that we need to counter. So yes, this proposed curfew is a wake-up call for everyone to see that gender bias and inequality exists, and it needs to be worked upon.
Important notes: Women rapists do exist as well. Men are targeted as well, and I'm not saying they aren't. However, most of the time, the assault is caused by other men. Nevertheless, whoever the perpetrator may be and whatever gender they may identify as, they are hardly ever punished. The victim is often blamed. We have to change that.
Remember, use your voice and get educated!
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