Sleaford woman who was stalked as a teenager says faith needs to be restored in police
She's speaking out following the sentencing of a former officer who kidnaped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard
A Sleaford woman who was stalked as a teenager says faith needs to be restored in the police following the sentencing of a former Metropolitan officer who kidnaped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.
Wayne Couzens was given a whole life order yesterday.
Sarah Watson was targeted by a man when she was just 16, she feels her case wasn't taken seriously enough.
"My phone went and it was this chap, and he was stood looking through two houses into my bedroom window and it was kind of then that I thought, right, I’m going to have to report this.
"So, I did report it at the time, and I don’t know what was done about it because I never heard anything after I reported it, but it definitely left a lasting effect on me.
"It was extremely distressing."
She's since joined Reclaim the Night to help others.
"I can totally emphasise with how scary it is.
"It makes you question any and every man that’s walking behind you at night, or next to you, or anyone that approaches you just by default.
"There are many women that will tell you that they’ve doubled back on their journeys, that they’ve rang their friends on the way home because they’ve felt scared.
"I think that was what was so prominent about the case, was that I think you could ask a large majority of women and they’ve all felt scared walking alone at night.
She says many victims don't feel they can trust the police to investigate.
"I know a lot of women who have been sexually assaulted who haven’t reported it due to feeling like they wouldn’t be believed or if they were drunk at the time or anything like that.
"I think that’s because there’s been a lot of historic cases where you just aren’t believed."