'ANXIOUS police warned yesterday. that no woman was safe out alone at night.' That's the message the press has been concerned to deliver since the death of the 'Yorkshire Ripper's' 12th victim last week.
Babs Leach died after making a "fatal mistake' - that of going for a walk on her own at night.
If you go swimming on a full stomach and drown with cramp, or if you drive into a brick wall without looking where you are going, then you could be said to be making a fatal mistake.
Ordinary commonsense tells you it was a silly thing to do, consequences are tragic, but that it's your own fault for not taking more care.
This is precisely the judgement of the popular press on Babs Leach tragic, but her own fault for being so silly as to think a woman could walk the streets in safety at night. must go out late, have an escort?.
It's such an obvious conclusion, really — impose a curfew on women, for their own safety.
Yet it wasn't only Babs Leach who made a iatal mistake.
Evening Standard told us 'Ripper' himself had made a deadly error' — an error which was slightly. different from the mistake made by Babs Leach. had ordinary respectable girl rather than a prostitute.
Of course, the 'Ripper' has done this twice before, So error. His did not leaving clues around. The implication is that. no one would have bothered doing much about him merely satisfied himself with killing prostitules.
Unclean: women, not fit to mothers, not really women at all...
and fulfils a cruel boast and the 'If you The London that the HUSBAND ALAN. He is des killed an it's his third involve if he had be the police THE Daily Mirror's version of Babs Leach's murder Even Oldfield, the officer in charge of investigation, had apologise for being concerned about Naion Hiding cilb.
• & stray ahe lied ju now you can us head Beat that! Cop wins Simple Soap 491402Mm £693,000 NOT PERFUMED - NOT COLOURED - EST KHD the victims' fate.
Some folk may sa "It's only rostitutes" but each of these girls i Mirior A trihr.. •• pictures and words to mark sies the burial of LORD LOUIS «Bestrump somebody's daughter', was how he explained it.
Oldfield's concern sounds fine and full of feeling, but what is he actually saying? That the prostitute is not of concern as the women for it.
Traditionally, been SCI every men.
killings.
jeans which the woman she was.
the the outrage there at all.
might told-you-so victims line attitude women. organised stay at home murder fear.
These women are desires. This answer to the police.
HAPPY BABS' this absolute extent, then blames the prostitutes have as the opposite of everything the real woman should be Yet at the same time the degradation of 'whores' is presented as the fate of woman who enjoys her sexuality; who tries to live independently of men; who won't play the properly submissive part in relation to There is a real element of gloating over the gory details of the 'Ripper's The one thing we can be sure to find in every newspaper report of the murder is the fact that the body was severely mutilated.
The other detail no one missed was that Babs Leach had a patch on her read 'Best Rump'. A guarded hint, perhaps, that she ever so slightly asked for it?.
There's no smoke without fire. If voung girls will go without bras, in tight jeans, seethrough shirts, then... And when all's said and done, a nice girl wouldn't want to go out walking the streets alone at night.
The Sun made a great point out of that Babs Leach was definitely not drunk; a point that is only of significance if you think it would have made some difference if All in all, when you look beyond and shock-horror there's not much anger Instead there's a grim fascination with all the details of the killings, attitude towards the and a warning to women about what happens if they step out of There has to be a stop to this toward violence against Womer have a protest against the 'Ripper' killings, but also against the police response of telling women to A spokesperson for the group said: 'Why should women stay at when they have done nothing? We should have a curfew for men and the right to defend ourselves so that all women can walk at night without Women organising in their own defence would be the beginnings of an "Ripper' and to the Ihre of error
----- pull-quotes -----
INTO THE RIPPER'S CLUTCHES
mistake «respectable
«foolish for togo alon Simple