Being violent is not the answer

A video that spread like wildfire on social media this week showed that some men are all too easily prepared to put their hands on women in potentially fatal ways.

The video shows a shop worker grabbing a woman by the neck and violently handling her during an altercation in Peckham Hair and Cosmetics in Rye Lane, Peckham.

He is almost twice the size of her and it makes for extremely uncomfortable viewing.

The woman is also physically aggressive towards the shop worker, it has to be said, hitting him repeatedly with a shopping basket.

It has also been reported that the woman allegedly caused the incident, as she went to return items she had bought and was told she was not allowed, she allegedly attempted to take other items from the shop.

This is not an excuse to lay hands on a woman, or anyone, in that way.

Choking someone is a dangerous act and even if someone is stealing from your shop, there is never any reason for it.

The video spawned a protest the next day that saw hundreds of people turn up to voice that exact view.

Protesters said there was a racial element to the incident as it was a black woman who was choked.

The shop owner has since reportedly said he “regrets” his choice of actions. But we have to ask why it was a choice that he felt he needed to make at all.

The option of calling the police is never a good one in this scenario, but by the end of the tussle between them the woman was seen begging for police to be called.

CCTV is installed in the premises for the exact problem of shoplifters and while this man may have felt he had a business to protect, choking a woman was not the answer.

The matter is with the Met now, the woman was arrested and bailed, and the man has since been interviewed under caution.

But what we need to change is the way the people in our community react to situations like these with violence, all too often directed at women.

southlondonpress
THE SPIRIT OF SOUTH LONDON

 

Picture: Pixabay/N-region