Manchester Liberation and Access Officer won’t be marching at Reclaim the Night due to lack of inclusivity

Sara Khan, Liberation and Access Officer at the University of Manchester Students' Union, has announced she will not be attending tonight's Reclaim the Night march.

She believes that the event excludes transgender people due to the lack of their representation in the Reclaim the Night promotional video and the number of “cis-normative” signs.

Reclaim the Night is an annual event which calls for women’s safety on the streets of Manchester, last year attended by 2,000 people.

This year, alongside the march, a petition has been launched calling for increased street-lighting and police presence, raised awareness of where victims can report acts of violence, and an end to cuts to women’s shelters.

Speaking to The Manchester Tab, Sara said: “Signs that associate womanhood with vaginas erase trans women, we must acknowledge that transfeminine people and trans men are some of the most vulnerable to street harassment and violence.”

Sara has also criticised the demand for increased police presence as a solution to sexual harassment and assault. She says that because of sexual assault allegations made against police officers, as well as reports of police abuse towards women of colour and transgender women, increased police funding will leave “the most vulnerable feeling less able to report crimes and more unsafe”. It has been reported that in the past six years there have been around 450 complaints to British police forces about sexual harassment.

According to the University of Manchester Students' Union, which organises Reclaim the Night, the march is an inclusive event made up of different blocs – such as ‘Women’s’, ‘LGBTQ+’ and ‘Muslim Women’s’. On the website they add: “Feel free to create your own bloc and march alongside us!”

Despite this, Sara believes that Reclaim the Night could be made more inclusive by providing a platform for transgender people and the violence they face. She added: “We should always strive to seek out and take on constructive criticism, and to do better.”

A spokesperson for the Students' Union Executive Officers gave this statement in response to Sara's concerns: “We completely acknowledge the concerns raised by the Liberation and Access Officer. However we would like to emphasise that the opportunities to be involved with the planning, organisation and execution of Reclaim the Night have been open to all students and officers for many months.

“The concerns raised have not been voiced before today. If any concerns had been raised at the various stages of consultation and planning by any elected representative or student, we would have taken the necessary measures to ensure that their concerns were addressed in the right way.

“The SU Executive Officer team would also like to express that no concerns were raised during the executive team meetings when discussions about Reclaim the Night were brought up. The Exec team are surprised about the claims and concerns raised just before the march but are determined to address the concerns the best we can do with the time that we have, and then will look to further improve future events.

“We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all of the 20+ student volunteers for all their time and efforts, and would also like to clarify our stance that none of our volunteers are paid.”