East London borough asks women to anonymously pinpoint streets they feel afraid to walk along alone at night on a map, following the murder of Sarah Everard – and Barking station already has 82 pins

• Barking and Dagenham council has asked women to pinpoint areas of the East London borough where they feel unsafe walking alone at night 
• Anonymous map is part of new measures introduced to help residents feel safer following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, 33, in Clapham on March 3rd
• Barking Station has become highlighted as a problem area – with 82 pins already 
• Borough said it wanted to be ‘a better ally’ in improving women’s safety 

A London borough has created an interactive map that lets women pinpoint areas where they don’t feel safe walking alone at night. 

Barking and Dagenham council created the anonymous online tool to highlight parts of the borough, in the capital’s east, that residents – particularly women – say feel dangerous to be alone in after dark. 

The tool has already seen the streets around Barking station attracting more than 80 pins, with the centres of nearby Dagenham and Chadwell Heath also highlighted. 

A recent survey by the Barking & Dagenham Post saw almost three-quarters (77%) of women say they often felt unsafe while living in the borough. 

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Barking and Dagenham council has asked women to pinpoint areas of the East London borough where they feel unsafe walking alone at night, with Barking station already identified as a problem area

Barking Station has already been pinned more than 80 times by local residents who say the streets around it can feel dangerous at night

Using a consultation portal, residents can also leave feedback on how the council can become ‘a better ally’ to better improve women’s safety standards. 

Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety in the borough, Councillor Margaret Mullane, told the Evening Standard: ‘Ensuring residents feel safe while walking around their streets comes second to none, so that’s why it is extremely important for us to understand where people feel unsafe.

‘I would like to encourage all women to take part in the survey, so that we can use the data to improve safety in these areas.’    

The request for suggestions on how to make the area of East London safer follows the murder of Sarah Everard.

The 33-year-old marketing executive disappeared as she walked home to Brixton from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London on March 3rd.

Anonymous map is part of new measures introduced to help residents feel safer following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, 33, in Clapham on March 3rd – a Metropolitan police officer was later charged with her murder

Councillor Margaret Mullane said the borough would use the data from the map to improve safety

Wayne Couzens, 48, a firearms officer from Scotland Yard’s elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command has been charged with her murder and kidnap. 

A crowd of around 1,500 people gathered on Clapham Common on March 13th as part of a ‘reclaim these streets’ protest with other low-key vigils held across the country.   

Mourners wearing facemasks went to the common throughout the day on March 13, including the Duchess of Cambridge who paid a private visit to the makeshift shrine.

The vigil in Ms Everard’s memory later made headlines after it descended into violence.

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