Reclaim the Night is back in Liverpool

All self-defining women are invited to march in protest against street harrassment and sexual violence.

The rally will begin at Liverpool Town Hall and continue through the city centre. Returning for its fourth consecutive year, the rally will be held this Friday, the 22nd April. They will be holding an after party at the Guild.

The organisers invite everyone to join them through a facebook event page. It includes when and where self-defining women will begin the march, later joined by allies:

“Meeting point outside Liverpool Town Hall for all self defining women at 7:30pm. Ally point at St Luke’s (Bombed Out Church). Rally and after party at Liverpool Guild of Students open to all.”

They have also explained the need for the rally:

“Why Reclaim The Night?

85,000 women are raped, and 400,000 women are sexually assaulted, on average in England and Wales every year according to the 2013 Official Statistics bulletin, ‘An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales’, by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Home Office.

The same bulletin reported that 1 in 5 women (aged 16 – 59) have experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16. It is also estimated that only one in ten rapes are reported to the Police and that of those reported only one in ten leads to a successful conviction.

Reclaim The Night  will be demonstrates the right for women to walk the streets at night free from sexual violence, street harassment and assault. Free from victim-blaming, free to wear whatever they want and still be safe in the knowledge that her body is her property, not public property.”

The activists at a past rally

Grace, the Engagement and Outreach officer for FemSoc, told the Tab:

“FemSoc have a history of working with Reclaim the Night Liverpool and we believe it’s important to continue this friendship. Our Craftivism event on the 20th will be a great opportunity to meet other feminists and anti-sexism campaigners in a fun and creative environment. We’re expecting there to be a lot of paint, glitter and some great slogans on our placards! Anyone is welcome to join the Craftivism session – it’s all about directing justified frustrations towards a better good. It’s important that we channel our anger to making positive change within our communities, and Crafitivism as well as RTN-L is a great opportunity for this.”

The organisers are also joining FemSoc in their Craftism event to make placards for the march. At craftism, FemSoc members and others engage in social and critical discourse about activism while making their placards.