Entertainment
Davina McCall criticised for claiming ‘fear-mongering’ around women’s safety is ‘bad for male mental health’
Davina McCall has been criticised after claiming that calling all men ‘dangerous’ amid the Sarah Everard case is ‘bad for our sons, brothers and partners’.
Everard, 33, went missing last week while she was walking home from a friend’s house at around 9pm in Clapham, south London.
Wayne Couzens, a serving member of the Metropolitan Police, has been arrested on suspicion of her kidnap and murder, as human remains were found in an area woodland in Kent, although it is too early to identify to whom they belonged.
In the wake of the tragedy, women have been sharing their experiences of feeling unsafe on the streets, harassment and male violence, and many have said that while it is not all men who inflict violence and fear against women, it is almost all women who experience such harassment, and it is ‘enough men’ to not know who is safe.
Davina, however, seemed concerned about all men being made to feel complicit.
The 53-year-old tweeted: ‘Female abduction / murder is extremely rare. Yes we should all be vigilant when out alone. But this level of fear-mongering isn’t healthy. And men’s mental health is an issue as well. Calling all men out as dangerous is bad for our sons, brothers, partners.’
When one person replied: ‘I don’t think people are calling all men dangerous but some are and when we’re walking home alone in the dark, we can’t tell which ones are and which ones aren’t’, the former Big Brother host tweeted: ‘I wouldn’t walk home alone in the dark. And lots of men I know wouldn’t either… because there are some ( very few relatively ) bad people out there. But your response is say you view all men as a danger and I don’t think we should be spreading that message.’
Davina, who is mum to two daughters and one son, added: ‘Men hesitate walking home in the dark too. And why should they? Because there are bad people out there. We should all be vigilant and as parents raise good adults.’
Another person explained: ‘This is a wider conversation around how extremely common it is for women to be made to feel uncomfortable by men. None of us have ever said it’s all men, just that there needs to be greater awareness amongst men of how their behaviour does or could impact women.’
Davina wrote back: ‘But you kind of are saying it’s all men in your statement.’
The presenter’s opinions has attracted major backlash, as people called Davina’s tweet ‘unhelpful’ and pointed out that while female abduction and murder is rare, a woman is killed in the UK every three days.
Loose Women’s Kaye Adams wrote: ‘But Davina, it is not about accusing all men , it is about asking all men to be part of the solution. And please let me say , I am not trying to arsey it’s just clearly an important conversation we all need to have.’
Writer Beth McColl tweeted: ‘We’re not only talking about being murdered by a stranger. we’re discussing everything that contributes to a culture where that happens. everyday misogyny, catcalling, domestic abuse, victim blaming, the majority of rapists who never see court. nobody is saying all men.’
Journalist Frances Ryan added: ‘Two women in the U.K. are murdered every week. Some of us will be raped and beaten every hour of every day. Any man whose “mental health” is damaged by women articulating their right to live without fear is a red flag. And any woman using her platform to downplay it is a tragedy.’
Others wrote that while male mental health is important, it cannot be at the expense of educating men on how to dismantle the culture of fear, violence and harassment against women.
This comes as Green Party peer Baroness Jones suggested a 6pm curfew for men during a debate on domestic violence in the House of Lords.
Baroness Jones said: ‘In the week that Sarah Everard was abducted and, we suppose, killed—because remains have been found in a woodland in Kent — I argue that, at the next opportunity for any Bill that is appropriate, I might put in an amendment to create a curfew for men on the streets after 6pm.
‘I feel this would make women a lot safer, and discrimination of all kinds would be lessened.’
A Reclaim These Streets vigil is being planned for Saturday, although the Met Police has threatened to fine organisers if it goes ahead due to coronavirus restrictions.
