A VIGIL for Sarah Everard was held in Newport yesterday evening.

33-year-old Sarah Everard went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on March 3 – her body was found hidden in an area of woodland in Ashford, in Kent, on Wednesday.

Police constable Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with kidnapping and killing Ms Everard and is remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on March 16.

Vigils were observed across the UK including in Newport, Bristol, Nottingham, and Glasgow.

In Newport people - including men and women - wore face coverings, and observed social distancing throughout the event which was held outdoors by Newport's Steel Wave at 7.30pm on Saturday, March 13.

Candles were lit and a minute of silence was observed.

A sign at the Newport vigil read: “I deserve to be safe. We deserve to be safe. Sarah deserved to be safe.”

A sign at a vigil for Sarah Everard held in Newport, South Wales

A sign at a vigil for Sarah Everard held in Newport, South Wales

Another sign read: “Femicide is genocide. A woman is killed by a man every three days. Enough.”

The above statistic is an average and comes from the Femicide Census which is a source of information on women killed in the UK and the men who killed them - it is available online here.

A speaker reminded attendees to adhere to coronavirus regulations throughout the event before talking about a society where women are taught to protect themselves and to be prepared for attack.

She said: “None of this will be fixed if we keep saying ‘okay’.”

Welsh Labour MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones, also spoke at the vigil, stating how important she thought it was that people show solidarity with Sarah Everard, 16-year-old Winjin Lin – who died after an incident at her family’s Chinese restaurant in South Wales earlier this month - and to all women.

Ms Jones said: “It’s so important that we show women will not be silenced.

“It’s not the women who have to learn ‘wear proper clothes, dress modestly, don’t say the wrong thing’ – it’s the men we need to educate.”

Following the vigil, she tweeted: “It was a peaceful orderly even with everyone obeying the Covid social distancing rules.

“Much love and respect shown for Sarah Everard, Wenjing Lin and all other women killed in violent acts.”