Last night a vigil was held in Lewisham for Sabina Nessa, the young teacher murdered as she took a short walk at around 8:30 on Friday 17th September to meet a friend.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Rabina Khan was there and posted the heartbreaking speech from Sabina’s sister, who showed incredible courage in speaking.

#SabinaNessa’s sister speaks about Sabina. Heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/bH3P99bJ3i

— Rabina Khan (@RabinaKhan) September 24, 2021

Former leader Jo Swinson, who lives in that part of London, said:

Sabina Nessa, Rest in Peace and Power. #SayHerName pic.twitter.com/fvutZCeaX5

— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) September 24, 2021

Women and Equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse:

My heart goes out to Sabina’s family.

This tragedy is made worse by the fact that only seven months ago there was a public outrage about the safety of women on our streets and nothing has changed. https://t.co/yrFlH2IebR

— Wera Hobhouse MP 🔶 🇺🇦 (@Wera_Hobhouse) September 24, 2021

Earlier in the day, Rabina had been on the Today programme, talking to Nick Robinson about the fact that when women of colour go missing or worse, their stories attract much less attention than when white, middle class women go missing.

Discussed the murder of Sabina Nessa with @bbcnickrobinson on @BBCr4today this morning. I spoke abt #WhiteWomanSyndrome it’s impact on women of colour, does the manner of the death of a young woman of colour's murder justify her death not being reported in the paper. #r4today pic.twitter.com/3HXXLkchza

— Rabina Khan (@RabinaKhan) September 24, 2021

Earlier Ed Davey had called for more action to tackle violence against women and girls.

A brilliant teacher with her whole life ahead of her.

My thoughts are with the friends, family and pupils of Sabina Nessa.

We cannot let her life be another statistic, we need action to address the epidemic of violence against women and girls https://t.co/C7OaIAAiw6

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) September 22, 2021

And Caroline Pidgeon had written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to ask her to ensure that the appalling scenes at the Sarah Everard vigil in March were not repeated.

NEW: I've written to @metpoliceuk Commissioner urging her to work with all parties to ensure the vigil for #SabinaNessa allows the Kidbrooke community & women from across London to mourn freely & openly

Sabina's death must lead to a step change in tackling violence against women pic.twitter.com/vKvdb9G9G3

— Caroline Pidgeon AM🔶 🇺🇦 (@CarolinePidgeon) September 23, 2021

And, last night, she said:

Thinking of Sabina & all who loved her tonight.

How many more candles will have to be lit? How many more times will women have to come together & say things must change? How much longer until we see a real change in attitudes & approach to violence against women? #SabinaNessa pic.twitter.com/cVyvNmTezM

— Caroline Pidgeon AM🔶 🇺🇦 (@CarolinePidgeon) September 24, 2021

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social