Government needs to improve women's safety, say Sabina Nessa's family

The family of London primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, who was killed as she walked home, has called on the government to make communities safer for women.

Nessa, 28, was attacked as she walked to meet a friend in southeast London in September.

Speaking ahead of her funeral at East London Mosque, her family asked the government to take "proactive steps" for women’s safety.

"Our lives have changed and will never be the same," a statement from the family said. "The pain we carry each and every single day will continue to remind us of the loss and also of the change that is desperately needed."

Last month Sabina's sister Jebina Yasmin Islam told ITV News London that political leaders needed to "step up" efforts to keep women safe.

In a statement on Friday she said: "Seven weeks today she was murdered and seven weeks later, we lay our beautiful and loving sister, Sabina, to rest."Words cannot describe how we are feeling as a family, we are all devastated by the loss of a beautiful daughter, sister and aunt."

Nessa, a teacher at Rushey Green Primary School, was walking to meet a friend at a pub five minutes from her home in Kidbrooke on Friday September 17 when she was attacked.

She died in Cator Park, where she was found the next day by a member of the public.

Koci Selamaj, 36, appeared in court last month charged with her murder.

Last month the government said a £25 million investment in its Safer Streets Fund would focus on female safety measures in public spaces and new online tool StreetSafe was introduced to let women log public places where they "felt or feel unsafe".

Sabina Nessa: Sister urges politicians to 'step up' efforts to keep women safe