London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Feminist protesters set off 1,000 rape alarms outside London police station

Feminist protesters set off 1,000 rape alarms outside London police station

Demonstration marked one-year anniversary of vigil for Sarah Everard, which was broken up by police

Feminist-led protesters have set off 1,000 rape alarms and hurled them at Charing Cross police station to mark the first anniversary of the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard which was broken up by police.

They were joined by Patsy Stevenson, whose arrest while being restrained face down by officers became the defining image of the vigil one year ago.

Standing outside the police station in London’s West End, she said: “One year ago today, the police waited until sunset to brutalise us at Clapham Common. Today, we waited until sunset to detonate 1,000 rape alarms at Charing Cross station.

“Fuck the police.”


Charing Cross was at the centre of a misogyny and racism controversy last month when a report by the police watchdog revealed details of officers sharing messages about hitting and raping women, as well as the deaths of black babies and the Holocaust.

Amid the deafening shriek of hundreds of rape alarms, which littered the ground outside the police station, protesters chanted: “A-C-A-B: All cops are bastards.”

Olga Smith, a member of Sisters Uncut, said: “When we found out about Sarah’s disappearance at the hands of a serving cop, we asked the police, how will you keep us safe? And the police said: stay home. Stay hidden. Carry a rape alarm.

“When we refused to hide away, when we gathered in grief and anger at Clapham Common to mourn our sister, Sarah Everard, the police brutalised us.

“Today we say: police are the perpetrators. Police don’t keep us safe. That is why we have thrown our rape alarms back at the perpetrators in the infamous Charing Cross police station.”

This week, two judges ruled that the Met police breached the rights of the organisers of the planned vigil for Sarah Everard, the Reclaim These Streets group, who did not attend the vigil itself.

The backlash against officers’ behaviour at the vigil became a catalyst for the “kill the bill” movement, which has seen thousands of people protest about the introduction of expanded policing powers – particularly relating to protest – in the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill.

Protesters had gathered outside New Scotland Yard, on the Victoria Embankment, at 4.30pm, where they heard speeches from activists before a short march, led by activists carrying green and purple flares, past Trafalgar Square to Charing Cross police station.


Cassie Robinson, a 36-year-old from London who attended the protest, said: “I was there last year on Clapham Common, and the police’s behaviour was disgraceful. I’ve completely lost faith in the police to take violence against women seriously, and I participated in today’s protest because I am withdrawing my consent for violent men to have any authority in this society.”

Wayne Couzens, a serving Met police officer in an elite firearms unit, was convicted in September of the kidnap, rape and murder of Everard, who disappeared while walking home through the Clapham Park area of south London.

It emerged that he had used his warrant card and additional powers given to police during the coronavirus pandemic to trick Everard into his car.

Reclaim These Streets had to cancel their planned vigil for Everard after the Met said it would be illegal to stage a rally under lockdown restrictions. However, hundreds of people attended the unofficial gathering on Clapham Common.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
×