TV Presenter Davina McCall Clarifies Her Recent Tweet That Sparked Backlash

Television presenter Davina McCall has provided “clarification” of Sarah Everard’s controversial post by her.

The disappearance of the 33-year-old woman on her way home on March 3 has led many women to discuss their road and public security concerns on social media.

Controversial Tweet And Clarification

In response, McCall tweeted on Friday that the “fear-mongering” and “calling all men out” around the “rare” case could damage male mental health.

On Sunday she said there had been “misunderstandings” of her views.

“Any man that’s violent [or] coercive towards a woman is abhorrent,” she wrote.

Her latest post followed the court appearance on Saturday of Wayne Couzens, the Metropolitan Police officer charged with the kidnap and murder of Ms Everard.

Victim Shaming?

McCall also denied allegations of “victim shame” in her new tweet, which was shared (retweeted) more than 13,000 times.

“Misrepresentation of my post, by some, was very scary,” said the former Big Brother anchor.

“Women should feel safe everywhere, all the time. Men should, and many do, help make this idea possible”.

Social media users had responded to her original message downplaying femicide rates, by highlighting the statistics on violence by men against women.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that by March 2020, 207 women had been killed in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), meaning that one in five people who had been killed were females.

The number of female victims was lower than last year, when 241 women were killed, but that was the highest number in a decade.

In that decade, there were 4,493 male victims of murder and 2,075 women (31%) in England and Wales. More than nine out of ten killers were men.

Reactions

Mrs Everard’s death has caused outrage everywhere, with hundreds of people gathered at the Clapham Common over the weekend to pay tribute to the advertising executive, who went missing when she returned from a friend’s home.

Police removed dozens of women from the rally and arrested four people on civil charges and Covid charges. A review has since been launched into the police handling of the vigil.

In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the case had “rightly ignited anger at the danger posed to women by predatory men, and anger I feel as strongly as anyone”.

She said she was committed to listening to women and girls, but urged people not to “participate in large gatherings or protests”.

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