Plan for undercover police at clubs to keep UK women safe deemed laughable

Policing experts and rights campaigners criticise proposed new measures to protect women

A woman visits a memorial site at the Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London. Reuters

Labour MP Angela Rayner lays flowers at a memorial site at the Clapham Common Bandstand. Reuters

A police officer is due to go on trial in the UK in October charged with the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard. Reuters

Police officers search drains at a car park in Sandwich, southern England, believed to be connected to the investigation into the nearby discovery of the body Sarah Everard. AP Photo

Sarah Everard has become the subject of public demonstrations about women's safety, after she went missing while walking home on March 3. AP Photo

Police divers search a waterway in Sandwich, southern England. AP Photo

Plans to send plainclothes police officers to British nightclubs and improve public lighting to increase women's safety after a high-profile murder case were described as laughable by policing experts and rights campaigners on Tuesday.

The government announced the measures on Monday after the kidnap and murder of London woman Sarah Everard, 33. Complaints about aggressive police behaviour at a memorial vigil for her fuelled a national debate over women's safety and criticism of law enforcement.

Critics say far more wide-ranging action is needed to tackle the root causes of gender violence in society, and rebuild trust between women and police.

"Undercover officers in bars is laughable," said Susannah Fish, the former chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, who described the move as "eye-catching PR of no substance".

"Sarah Everard had not been in a bar and was simply walking home – as were thousands of women who have suffered harassment, sexual assault [and] verbal abuse while in public spaces, and will be in the future."

A government spokeswoman said the extra patrols around bars and clubs – called Project Vigilant – would help women to feel safe at night, with a successful 2019 pilot by Thames Valley Police, in the central southern city of Oxford, now being rolled out nationwide.

She said the Thames Valley force – which is leading the new national programme – had stationed officers outside venues to help tackle and deter offences.

"We recognise that there is more we need to do to tackle the root causes of gendered violence and to support women," she said.

The National Police Chiefs' Council, which represents British police chief officers, said it was working with the government to understand the details of the proposals.

Everard, a marketing executive, disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in south London on March 3. Her body was later found in woods about 80 kilometres away in south-east England.

London police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in court charged with her kidnapping and murder.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said boosting police presence in bars and clubs, plus improving the safety of public spaces through measures such as better lighting and more CCTV would "provide greater reassurance" to women.

But these initiatives focus on the symptom rather than the cure to societal norms that normalise men's violence against women, said Deniz Ugur, deputy director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition pressure group.

"I cannot understand why any woman would trust it," said Nikki, a member of Sisters Uncut, a feminist direct-action group that clashed with police at the London vigil. She declined to give her full name because of security concerns.

"It is incredibly concerning that anyone would be putting any extra powers into the police's hands at the moment, because it is very evident that they cannot be tasked with keeping women safe."

Women's rights campaigners and experts called for action, including mandatory school education on sexual consent, campaigns to combat rape myths, more money for women's support organisations and for misogyny to be made a hate crime.

More work is also needed to tackle attitudes to sexual harassment and abuse in some sections of the police, said Loretta Trickett, an associate professor at Nottingham Law School, who has worked on issues of misogyny and policing.

"Just providing more street lighting and making sure there're more police officers around nightclubs isn't going to change the culture in wider society and it's not going to change the culture we see in some members of the police force," she said.