Birmingham Fems are pleased to be allies to the Slut Walk Toronto initiative
After a Toronto copper said this
The people of Toronto did this
Frickin’ awesome.
Category: feminists
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Midlands women march against rape
On Saturday 16th October, Birmingham will host its second annual march against rape and all forms of violence against women – Reclaim the Night.
The march, being organised by local group the Birmingham Feminists, will take place on 16 October at 19.00. Women from around the West Midlands will assemble at Victoria Square before setting off on a route that will take them through the heart of the city centre back to Victoria Square. During the rally after the march prominent feminist writer and icon, Catherine Redfern, founder of thefword.org.uk and co-author of Reclaiming The F Word: The New Feminist Movement , will speak.
The march itself is women only, but everyone is invited to join the rally. Whilst women march to ‘Reclaim the Night’, men who support fighting violence against women will stay in Victoria square and hold a vigil.
Reclaim the Night is an international campaign which started in the 1970s as an outcry to the poor response of the police to rape cases who would warn women not to go out alone at night. Now, over 40 years on, much the same advice is given – when two young women were raped at this year’s Latitude music festival, festival organisers advised women to avoid being alone at night. The women attending the march, and the men supporting it, believe women should be able to walk anywhere free from the threat of male violence.
After last year’s march, one attendee stated afterwards: ‘Here was a group of women who were proud of making a stand, of not being afraid to walk down some of the dark streets in the city of Birmingham’.
Birmingham Feminists member Katie says of the march ” We who have survived violence or have been lucky enough to be that one in two women who won’t experience the violence, take to the streets en masse to say no. No you can not do this to us, and no we
will not be silenced.”
For further details leave a comment and telephone details can be sent (or .doc version of press release to a given email address)
Photos are available on request.
It’s only been two months since the march took place but I thought it was about time we had a bit of a write up!
I wasn’t able to march due to being only partially recovered from flu but sent everyone on their way from the Five Ways Island to go through Edgbaston and end up back at Ladywood Community Centre. We could hear the marchers coming up the road to the community centre, shouting and singing with great gusto as the reached the end of the march and took their seats for the rally. At the rally we heard several influential speakers tell us about their work and their experiences in working with women who have experienced male violence. It was truly inspirational to know that this work is going on in our local community, although it is clear that there is so much left to do, not least because of the lack of funding open to services such as Sandwell Rape Crisis.
Afterwards we went on to a chilled out after party with some choice tunes (a playlist created entirely from my own collection with some excellent suggestions from others – so of course I was in my element!) and some lovely food.
I met several new women at the march, some of whom I have seen again, and we also picked up a new Birmingham Fems member on the way round!
Nadine, a new member of Birmingham Fems, who joined the group after RTN having heard about it on facebook through her W.O.M.E.N group discussion board, gave us the following write up:
“I attended Reclaim The night in Birmingham for the first time and really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed was the fact that there was a group of women no doubt coming with their own different experiences, there was a group of women who were proud of making of stand of not being afraid to walk down some of the dark streets in the city of Birmingham.
We then went onto the community centre in Ladywood to listen to talks from women doing amazing work with other women some of which are perhaps a bit vunerable. It was moving to hear of other womens experiences but at the same time very good to hear the positive work being done and that to me was a huge inspiration.
I am looking forward to attending next year s Reclaim The Night and am happy to be involved in the fortnightly meetings where I meet with women from B ham Fems to discuss a range of issues which affect the day to day lives of women and of course the plans for 2010 Reclaim The Night.”
It was certainly great to meet Nadine that night and it is great to have her as part of the group today. This is just proof that these kinds of events DO help to spread the word.
We are also in the Birmingham Post, the Birmingham Mail and the Sandwell Express and Star.
Watch this space for more information about upcoming events for 2010 – especially the 2010 Reclaim The Night Birmingham, which is set to be a big success with some wonderful backing and a great team of planners!
As I am lazy and am partial to some cross posting (and therein a bit of shameless personal blog promotion), here is the link to my speech from the Veg Out Against Violence event held last night on 23rd July 2o09 at the Warehouse Cafe in Digbeth.
http://graceneedshelp.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/veg-out-against-violence/
Watch this space for more news about RTN Birmingham and any future fundraising events.
There were an estimated 4,000-5,000 women that turned out to march through the Central London to mark International Women’s Day. The Million Women Rise March captured a powerful spirit of solidarity and protest against violence and discrimination faced by women and children worldwide.
Beginning at 12:30 at Hyde Park, the march was attended by women and children from all over the country: some were representing organisations, some representing themselves. The brightly coloured banners of all shapes and sizes could be seen dotted throughout the crowds, waving proudly in the wind. It wasn’t a sunny day, and had rained at one point, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. There were women singing, women dancing to the drums, women chanting, blowing whistles, playing brass instruments, playing home made instruments, women who didn’t even know each other standing together. The atmosphere was joyful and uplifting. Leaflets, information sheets were handed out to further the support for organisations that are being closed down (Southall Black Si
sters, Rape Crisis Centres).
The march was from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, where the Rally was to be held. We marched on loud and proud, making ourselves heard to the onlookers. People came out of restaurants, shops and offices to see us, in particular there was a woman on a hotel balcony showing her support by cheering for us. Bus drivers beeped, passengers in tourist buses looking on in amazement as we marched with unity and strength. People were taking photos with their camera, some were filming the march, and many just had their phones out to record the memorable day. 
As we drew closer to the rally, we sang, we chanted, we danced to the beat of the drum; the excitement was so contagious that it drew onlookers in to join us. Survivors of domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault, discrimination… Standing strong together. Women in wheelchairs attending the march, determined to show their support.
As we came towards the Trafalgar Square, the atmosphere was euphoric. We had been chanting consistently, it felt like the whole march was chanting the same one, we were nearly there. The feeling was just amazing for everybody, knowing that we had marched for our mothers, our sisters, our aunts, our daughters, our friends. Turning the corner to the rally, we saw a screen with the Million Women Rise symbol on it. A sense of triumph went throughout the crowd as we reached our point. We filled up the space in front of Nelson’s Column, awaiting the speakers we had come to support. The words on a huge screen read:
One Woman
One body
One song
One love
There was a selection of speakers at the rally that left many of us tearful. We could hear and feel their words, understand the meaning and the strength behind them. There were women speaking who were survivors of domestic violence, an inspiration to all as they spoke with confidence and dignity. There were representatives from national and campaigning organisations such as Southall Black Sisters; Women’s Aid; Fawcett Society; Women’s Institute; Women and Girls Network and the Rape Crisis Federation.
It was a great day, and we had the opportunity to show our support as Birmingham Feminists. People looked at our banner with, what I hope was, approvement. We made our debut at MWR, chanted with the various groups that were there, and embraced the sisterhood that we have come to know. We are proud to be women, proud to be fighting for women, and we won’t stop until we get justice.
Birmingham Feminists 