... • Reclaim the Night, Leeds. Placards read “No curfew on women – curfew on men”. 40 years later we still march. The Reclaim The Night marches started in the UK in the 1970s. Because we still have not got these rights; because women are still blamed for rape and male violence. It was a movement that began in 1977 but the Reclaim The Night march is still as important today. Inspired by the news from Germany, women in Leeds formed a Reclaim The Night group to take collective action against rape and male sexual violence against women. We march to demand justice for rape survivors. This was of particular significance to women in the area because of the serial murders by Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who sexually attacked and murdered 13 women across Yorkshire betweeen 1975 and 1980. Inspired by similar marches in West Germany, the Leeds marches were partly in response to the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ murders and the police reaction, which was to tell women they should not go out at night unless absolutely necessary. In 1977 women in Leeds took to the streets to protest the police requesting women to stay at home after dark in response to the murders of 13 women by (recently deceased) Peter Sutcliffe. A recent survey by the young women’s magazine More in 2005 found that 95% of women don’t feel safe on the streets at night, and 65% don’t even feel safe during the day. Their message was clear: women should be able to walk anywhere, and should not be blamed or restricted because of men’s violence. Maternity Discrimination & Flexible Working, Paper Girls: Feminist Graphic Novel Book Club, https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/salfordcityradio/widget.js/. Reacting on two killings of women in the streets,on the 1st of March 1977 women in West Berlin started demonstrating at night - later to be repeated as Walpurgis Night every year on May Day eve. Seven women lost their lives in believed domestic violence incidents across Australia in the lead-up to the event. We aim to put the issue of our safety on the agenda for this night and every day. The police response at the time was to advise women not to go out at night alone, in order to keep them safe. Reclaim the Night was originally established in 1977, by feminists who wanted to respond to the murders conducted by the Yorkshire Ripper. Reclaim the Night It's 1977, and the first Reclaim the Night march takes place in Leeds in response to the curfew imposed on women to protect them from the Yorkshire Ripper. The Reclaim The Night march gives women a voice and a chance to reclaim the streets at night on a safe and empowering event. Women are still blamed for rape and male violence. Reclaim the Night The empowerment of standing shoulder to shoulder with individuals who passionately stand against sexual crimes against women, rape culture and victim blaming is immeasurable. The Reclaim The Night marches started in the UK on the 12th November 1977, when torchlit marches were held across England in Leeds, York, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Brighton and London. This was of particular significance to women in the area because of the serial… The police reaction led to the Reclaim the Night movement being formed in 1977. Today we march, as so many women have done before us to say that we are NEVER to blame for rape and male violence. The UK marches started on the 12th November 1977 in Leeds, York, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Brighton and London. Reclaim the Night came to the UK over 40 years ago. The first Reclaim the Night march in the UK was in 1977 in Leeds. Reclaim the Night marches were first held in the UK in 1977, inspired by similar marches which had taken place in Germany. In America they are known as ‘Take Back The Night’ and the first one was held in West Germany on April 30th 1977. The Campbelltown event has run for the past 20 years. Reclaim the Night started in the UK in 1977, when women marched through the streets in Leeds to protest a night-time curfew on women – the police’s response to the Yorkshire Ripper murders. This year’s Reclaim the Night march was part of an annual effort which began in the UK in 1977, and intensified in protest of police response to the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered sex workers, which resulted in a warning to all women not to go out at night. A radio show in Greater Manchester for women, by women. I was a member. We march today to demand our right to live without the fear or reality of rape and male violence, we demand an end to male violence against women, and we take back this night to win the day. Did you know that the maximum sentence possible for rape is life imprisonment? Last year, on 25 th October 2019, Nambucca Valley hosted its first Reclaim the Night march.. The people to blame for these crimes are the men who choose to commit them. Over the years the marches evolved to focus on rape and male violence generally, giving women one night when they could feel safe to walk the streets of their own towns and cities. Women there demanded, "the right to move freely in their communities at day and night without harassment and sexual assault" 2 . When police refused to do so, feminists mounted continuous guards to prevent further threats on her life. On April 30th1977 German women marched against sexual harassment on the street and called their protest, ‘Take Back The Night’. Reclaim the Night started in Leeds, UK in 1977 as a part of the Women’s Liberation movement. The first Reclaim the Night march was held in Leeds in 1977, when women protested a night-time curfew put in place by police as a response to the Yorkshire Ripper murders. ‘Reclaim the Night’ was created as a movement in Leeds in 1977. They called their campaign, 'Reclaiming the … Exactly 40 years later these marches are still being held across the country. 73% worry about being raped and almost half say they sometimes don’t want to go out because they fear for their own safety. In America the marches are known as ‘Take Back The Night’ and the first formal march with this title was held in San Francisco in 1978. Read more about the Reclaim the Night campaign here. Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence, which started in the 1970s, with the first UK march taking place in 1977 as a response to the “Yorkshire Ripper” murders of … This was particularly significant to women in the area because of the serial murders by Peter Sutcliffe, dubbed by the press as the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’, who sexually attacked and murdered thirteen women across Yorkshire between 1975 and 1980. Women in Leeds started the Reclaim the Night … The police response to these murders was to advise women not to go out at night, effectively placing them under curfew with unhelpful advice that ignored the needs of women who – because of work demands – had no choice about whether or not to be out late at night. Our inspiration came from West Germany, where on the night of April 30th 1977 feminists marched in many … The first Reclaim the Night events were torchlit marches in West Germany protesting sexual harassment. The police response was to tell women not to go out at night, effectively putting them under curfew. Rather than asking men to stay at home, women were told to remain inside in order to be safe from violence. The Reclaim The Night marches started in the UK on the 12th November 1977, when torchlit marches were held across England in Leeds, York, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Brighton and London. Feminists and a variety of student and women’s groups were angered by this response and also by the sensationalising of the serial murders, which they felt hid the real fact that all too many women are affected by male violence and that this was in fact common. Women - particularly in Leeds and the North of England - felt the police response to the Yorkshire Ripper murders was slow and that the press had barely reported on them until MacDonald's murder. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. In April 1977 ‘Take back the Night’ marches against sexual harassment were held across towns and cities in West Germany. This situation has to change. Over the years, the marches have evolved to focus on rape and male violence generally, giving women one night when they could feel safe to walk the streets of their own towns and cities. Reclaim the Night is a movement started in Leeds in 1977. They made the point that women should be able to walk anywhere and that they should not be blamed or restricted because of men’s violence. These were organised by women in Leeds, outraged and protesting violence against women following the sexual assaults and murders of 13 women perpetrated by Peter Sutcliffe. Reportedly the first ever ‘Reclaim the Night’ march was held in Rome in 1975 to protest against a rise in reported rapes. Women in the area were angry that the police response to these murders seemed slow and that the press barely reported on them when it was mainly women involved in prostitution who were murdered. MacDonald's murder changed the police and press's perception of the Yorkshire Ripper murders (later discovered to be by Peter Sutcliffe) and resulted in public furore and increasing anger amongst women. We cannot claim equal citizenship while this threat restricts our lives as it does. The marches were inspired by “Take Back the Night” marches being held in West Germany on the 30th April 1977. “Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group wants to hold a women only midnight demonstration on the theme of ‘every woman has the right to walk alone at night without fear’ and ‘fight rape.’ We march today to demand our right to live without the fear or reality of rape and male violence, we demand an end to male violence against women, we take back this night to win the day. Reclaim the Night marches were initiated in England on 23 November 1977 by women in Leeds in response to the 'Ripper Murders'. In 1977, when the first Reclaim the Night march was held in Leeds, I was just 15 and remember watching it on the news with a growing sense of … Hundreds of women in the UK took to the streets on 12 November 1977 in protest. Co-ordinated by the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group, they were held as a gesture of collective action against rape and male sexual violence against women. These were reviewed in the UK Women’s Liberation Movement magazine Spare Rib and titled ‘Germany: Women Reclaim The Night’ (Issue 61). RTN is traditionally a women-only, night time, urban protest march against all forms of male violence against women. Since 2004, the London Feminist Network has organised annual Reclaim the Night marches to make a stand against rape, sexual assault and all forms of male violence… Reportedly, the first ever ‘Reclaim The Night’ march with that title was held in Rome in 1976 to protest against a rise in reported rapes. On April 30 th 1977 German women marched against sexual harassment on the street and called their protest, ‘Take Back The Night’. The first Reclaim the Night marches in the UK were held across the country on 12 November, 1977. In Australia, the first Reclaim the Night marches were held in 1978, inspired by marches which were taking place all over the world at that time. The first Reclaim The Night (RTN) marches in England took place on 12th November 1977, an initiative of the Leeds Reclaim The Night group. Co-ordinated by the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group, they were held as a gesture of collective action against rape and male sexual violence against women. We demand the right to use public space without fear. The purpose of the march is for women to "reclaim the night" from perpetrators of … Union … Sun 13 Nov 1977 19.15 EST 19.15 EST On Saturday night groups of women in cities all over the country took to the streets. An ICM poll commissioned by Amnesty International in 2005 found that over one third of the British public surveyed believed that women were sometimes wholly or partly to blame if they were raped, for example if they had been drinking, if they flirted or dressed outrageously. The Reclaim The Night marches started in the UK on the 12th November 1977, when torchlit marches were held across England in Leeds, York, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Brighton and London. Today we walk for the same reasons. The Reclaim the Night movement began way back in 1977 as a response to police implemented curfews on women. The first Reclaim the Night marches in the UK were held across the country on 12 November, 1977. In Rome in April 1977, 20,000 women mobilised in solidarity with Claudia Caputi, a young woman viciously gang-raped by 16 men, and subjected to further violence when she brought the case to trial. Initially, the movement began in Leeds in 1977, which demanded that women could … This was not a helpful suggestion for any women, those working late shifts or night shifts, or those involved in prostitution who often had no choice about whether they went out at night or not. Marches followed in 1977 in West Germany. We demand this right as a civil liberty, we demand this as a human right. It was part of the Women’s Liberation Movement in England, through which women started demanding for more representation at work, equal pay and the right to make independent decisions about abortion and other aspects of their lives. The event to put the issue of our safety on the agenda for this and! 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