Hi everyone, I’m a new poster here although I’ve been reading for a while.
I don’t have anything to add in terms of sleuthing, only some more general thoughts. Firstly, like so many others, I am struck by the wisdom, respect and care shown by posters here. I’ve followed this case for a few days now and was so hoping for a different outcome. I’m so sorry for Sarah, for her loved ones, for WC’s poor children.
I am a 27 year old woman, living on the outskirts of a big city in the UK. My university / career path isn’t a million miles from Sarah’s so - although I can’t claim to know much about her at all - I can put myself in her shoes to a certain extent. When I first became aware of Sarah’s story last week, I was under the impression that she might have walked through Clapham Common alone in the dark, and I initially assumed that to mean she was walking through a dark park (not a lit road). I am not proud to admit this, but my instinctive reaction was “that sounds so dangerous! why did she do that?”. It turned out that my understanding of the facts was incorrect, but that’s not what’s most important. The issue is that I am so accustomed to feeling scared when alone after dark, that I found myself feeding into the very victim blaming narrative that I hate so much.
I believe in my heart, passionately, that women - anyone - should be able to go about normal, daily activities safely and feel protected from harm. But the fact of the matter is (and I’m assuming this was a random attack, in that WC and Sarah did not know each other) these disgusting people continue to walk the streets, waiting for their opportunity. Scariest of all, they often have normal jobs, normal families, normal homes, and it is impossible to determine a benign stranger from a severe threat until it’s too late. The onus should not be on women to act with such fear, but in the society we live in we’re left with no choice but to protect ourselves at every moment. And Sarah did exactly that. She was careful, she stuck to a well lit area, she called her boyfriend - and the worst still happened. I’m not suggesting that her disappearance would somehow be less tragic had she not been doing those things, but my point is she was doing everything we’re told is our “responsibility” to keep ourselves safe.
So what on earth can we do?! Call somebody on your walk home - but don’t wear headphones, you won’t be as alert. Wear bright colours so you can be seen, but don’t wear anything that will draw too much attention to yourself. Get a taxi, don’t walk by yourself, but be careful, don’t trust the taxi driver. Respect police, find someone you can trust - oh, wait.
I’m so angry for Sarah, and for every other woman who has been harmed in any way, while simply trying to get home. I don’t have any answers, and I apologise that this has turned into a bit of a rant. But Sarah deserved infinitely better than this, and I’m so sorry.