Advocacy groups marched towards New Scotland Yard, holding signs and shouting chants accusing the Metropolitan police of misogyny and mishandling numerous sexual assault cases.
The marchers delivered speeches in front of New Scotland Yard, with a few Metropolitan officers present to hear.
There has been rising condemnation of the Met police for employing officers who harbour misogynistic and racist views.
This follows a BBC panorama investigation that revealed senior Met staff making misogynistic comments about victims of sexual assault, as well as racist views towards immigrants and Muslims in particular.
Lydia, 24, who is the Brighton City lead for the Intersectional Uprising feminist advocacy group, spoke outside New Scotland Yard.
She said: “The UK police currently only has 30% of their forces represented by female officers.
“The approach to policing will naturally side with the male perspective despite this not being representative of the wider population.”
“Even within the police force itself, female officers have reported experiencing discrimination, harassment, and prejudice because of their gender.”
Despite Cressida Dick, the former Commissioner of the Met police service from 2017 to 2022, being female, the police watchdog still found disgraceful misogyny, discrimination, and sexual harassment amongst some Met PCs.
Pelham Spong, 40, who first started working as a personal assistant to the al-Fayed family in Paris at age 23, claims with evidence that she was sex trafficked by Mohamed al-Fayed.
She also spoke outside New Scotland Yard.
“To legitimise this fake job and quieten any hesitations I had, there were the gilded halls of the Paris Ritz which he owned, the army of pretty young personal assistants, the cash and the Eurostar tickets to take me back and before to his crown jewel, Harrods,” she said.
Spong also claimed there were lawyers, hotel and Harrods employees who acted as ‘enablers’ for Mohamed al-Fayed to perpetrate his crimes.
She alleged police were given ‘gift hampers’ and ‘new police cruisers’.
She added: “I am standing here today as one of at least 400 women.
“The headlines that stopped my world: the Met admits 21 people reported him, and nothing happened.”
“They announced they had identified 5 or more potential enablers, and since then they have interviewed 147 women and reviewed 50,000 pages of documents and charged nobody.”
Harrods responded by stating: “We support the bravery of all survivors coming forward.
“We continue to encourage survivors to make claims to the Harrods redress scheme, where they can apply for compensation until 31 March 2026 as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.”
The Metropolitan Police responded by referencing previous statements they have made on this issue, which read: “We continue to support all victims and we urge anyone with information, whether they were directly affected by Mohamed Al-Fayed’s actions or are aware of others who may have been involved, or committed offences to come forward.”
Featured image credit: Matthew Cumberland
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