Unhelpful advice of the week (possibly more)

[sollers]

Bristol, in the aftermath of the murder of the landscape architect:

"Women should avoid going home alone after dark"

For crying out loud, it's dark before most people leave work! What else are they saying? "Women should avoid living on their own." "Women living on their own should not go to work". "Women living with someone else should chase around after work to meet up with their partner/flatmate etc, who quite possibly works different hours, before going home". "Women should tell their employers that until further notice they will be leaving work at about 3 pm" - oh, yes, I can see that one flying.

I'm assuming here that the murderer is male, but how about "Men should keep off the streets after dark. Any found out at that time will be taken in for questioning"?

Comments

[oursin]

Paging Golda Meir:

(When trying to deal with a series of assaults on women, one Minister suggested that women should not be allowed on the streets after dark.) Men are attacking the women, not the other way around. If there is going to be a curfew, let the men be locked up, not the women.

[sollers]

Absolutely!

[forthwritten]

And it's certainly less than helpful when so many women are murdered or assaulted by men they know. Advising women not to go home on their own isn't very helpful if the male partner, flatmate or acquaintance accompanying them is just as, if not more, likely to assault them.

If it's men's behaviour at fault, sure it should be their movements that are restricted?

[legionseagle]

I thought they'd arrested her landlord ("Women should avoid going home")?

[aella_irene]

He was let go on bail (or possibly just let go) and the police are saying stolidly that "The murderer is still at large."

[sollers]

They had, but the last I heard was that they had released him. That was the context in which the police made the above egregious comment.

[whatistigerbalm]

*vigorous thumbs up to every word of this*

[legionseagle]

There was a 1908 (I think it was) by-election in Manchester at a time when the Liberal Government, faced with a massive deficit and high male unemployment were trying under the guise of protecting women from the risk of assault at night to ban them from working after 8.00pm in the evening (this would therefore free up jobs for men, who had votes). Esther Roper and Eva Gore-Booth were fighting predominantly for bar-maids (who would have been abolished altogether had the Act passed) but for working women in general. Winston Churchill, obviously, was fighting the seat for the Liberals on the ban the barmaid in her own best interests ticket.

Of course, if the Act had passed the ex-bar maids would presumably have had to resort to prostitution to pay the rent, which seems to be the logical result of the "Don't go home alone, girls" argument, too.