No, Met, they are not.
And let me tell you why they are not.
It’s because society does not value women. Society does not respect women. Society does not listen to women. Society does not believe women.
Until it does, the streets will never be safe for women.
And by “society” I do not mean men. I do not mean misogynists. I do not mean rapists. I do not mean murderers of women. I mean the whole lot of it.
Every time a little girl is told a boy is being mean to her because he likes her. Every time a tabloid reduces a woman in a position of power to her legs. Every time a guy is let off with a slap on the wrist for groping a female colleague. Every time a woman is expected to be the carer, the cook, the cleaner without any financial recompense. Every time a group of guys feels confident enough to shout comments at women in the street without facing any repercussion. Every time a woman is paid less than a man for doing the same job. Every time a woman is accused of sleeping her way into a job. Every time the term “single mother” is accompanied by a look down the nose of the person who has said it. Every time a woman over the age of 50 turns invisible. Every time a woman is taxed for a sanitary product. Every time a law is reversed which gives a woman autonomy over her own body. Every time a woman is talked over in a meeting. Every time a man is belittled for displaying what society deems “female emotions”… every day and in the tiniest or most blatant of ways society sends the message that women are worth less.
And until this message stops being sent to society, society is never going to stop, on some level, believing it.
And until society stops believing it, women are never going to be safe.
Not on any street in any city.
And I’m fucking sick of it.
My Name is Not Debbie 