The past 22 months have seen society change, probably forever, for many reasons.
Of course the world has been battling a pandemic but amongst that has been a rallying cry for some injustices and inequalities to be addressed.
That has ranged from the incredible power of the Black Lives Matter movement after the shocking death of George Floyd in the US, to women’s safety here in the UK having a spotlight shone on it after the horrific killing of Sarah Everard at the hands of serving police officer Wayne Couzens.
These tragic events led to mass demonstrations which saw police intervention. One of the many legacies of Sarah’s murder is that the profile of women’s safety in the UK has rarely been talked about more. But is that enough to make a difference and what actions have already taken place to ensure that women do feel safe where they live?
Here at The Independent we are hosting an expert panel discussion as part of our virtual event series to explore the answers to those questions.
We will be looking at what has changed during 2021, what needs to happen next for there to be a substantial step change for women and we will be asking what part we all play in that.
The discussion will be hosted by our Lifestyle Editor Harriet Hall and she will be joined and supported on the panel by Women’s Correspondent Maya Oppenheim.
Joining Harri and Maya on the panel are the following distinguished guests:
- Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
- Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid
- Shaista Aziz, a journalist, comedian, writer and Labour councillor for Oxford city council
- Eleanor Lisney, a founder member and coordinator of Sisters of Frida
Our event will be hosted on Zoom on 19 January at 6.30pm and will last one hour. It is free to attend.