Women face the threat of sexual violence in all areas of their lives and are “tired of being afraid” to walk in the street, campaigners have said.

Following the harrowing disappearance of Sarah Everard women across the country have been sharing their experiences of feeling unsafe and the violence and harassment they experience.

A vigil called “Reclaim these streets” has been organised on Facebook and is due to take place at Clapham Common bandstand in south London at 6pm on Saturday.

One of the organisers, Caitlin Prowle, said she is “tired of being afraid” to walk around the streets where she lives.

The 23-year-old told the PA news agency: “Together with a bunch of friends, we were just having the conversations that I imagine have been happening in a million WhatsApp groups across the country, with many women sharing their stories and how powerful that is and devastating at the same time.

“We thought it would be nice to set something up to channel some of that anger and hurt and group collective grief as well.

“It’s been a really difficult, heavy week. Violence against women is an epidemic, but sometimes it does take something like this, that hits a bit closer to home, to really bring it to the fore and certainly in people’s minds and people’s consciousness.

“There is a real sense of ‘enough is enough’. We can’t carry on like this.”

A survey for UN Women UK, published this week, found that 97% of women aged 18-24 said they have been sexually harassed.

Gemma Tutton, who set up a campaign with her sister Maya to end street harassment, said women face threats of sexual violence in every single part of their lives, which is “incredibly damaging for our mental health”.

The 16-year-old said it is “appalling” that women and girls have to learn about this directly through their own experiences.

She told PA: “We, as women and marginalised people, cannot see which man is going to ‘just’ sexually harass us and which man could take it a step further and make us the next Sarah Everard.”

The teenager said that during the first lockdown she was sexually harassed by two male teachers yelling at her from a school bus, while she is aware of girls being groped under their skirts at school.

“And I don’t know if it’s like this for other women but, for me, when I’m out in public and especially when I’m walking on my own, my heart always skips a beat when a car comes up behind me, and I don’t know if that’s going to be perceived as dramatic, but I’ve just now had so many experiences on all ends of the spectrum, that I know that wherever I am, whether it’s in public space, at school, on transport, or in a gym or in a sports facility, I’m not safe.

“And I’m not protected, and the key part is that I’m not protected by the law – the law has no specific legislation tackling public sexual harassment.”

She added: “Unless we fight these key parts that are on the base of the pyramid of sexual violence against women and girls, we’re never going to be able to properly tackle things like femicide and rape.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel has said every woman “should feel safe to walk our streets without fear of harassment or violence”.

The Home Office said its violence against women and girls strategy, which will cover 2021-24, will published in spring.