It was with great joy and enthusiasm that myself and (soon-to-be regular Uplift blogger!) Dearbhaile Kitt attended the Reclaim The Night march on Saturday. It might seem strange to outsiders that this march protesting violence towards women would be so happy and exuberant but, for me, those emotions felt totally right.
Along with over 2000 other women marching through central London, I was able to gain the strength to process my anger and sadness at having been harassed and sexually assaulted whilst walking alone on the streets at night (and during the day!) and evolve those feelings from fear into a powerful assertion that all women should have the right to walk the streets without being afraid. Through our singing, dancing (the drumming group SheBoom really got us going), cheers and chants we were able to deny those who have hurt us any negative and destructive power over our bodies, minds and memories. It was a wonderful feeling of freedom, one we so seldom feel as we simply make our way from A to B.
This amazing video from Hannah Nicklin really conjures up the empowering spirit of the evening;
Photographer, writer and Uplift contributor, Alex Brew will be giving a talk tonight at the opening of new exhibition ‘Shattered’. Brew will be exhibiting and discussing images from the Asking For It project that was first shown at Ladyfest London in May 2008. To create the series of images, Brew approached men in public spaces and asked them to fully or partially undress for her and her camera. Her resulting images raised questions about objectification, sexual freedom and power relations between the genders.
Brew will be joined by ceramicist Claudia Clare for the discussion, which runs from 7 til 9pm. Clare’s work consists of five, giant sized, broken and mended clay pots, which were made in response to contemporary women’s stories of surviving sexual violence.
The Shattered exhibition is a product of working with Rape Crisis, England & Wales. It runs from until the 12th of December at The Original Gallery, Hornsey Library, Haringey Park, N8 9JA. Opening times: Monday – Friday, 1-7.00pm, Saturday and Sunday, 12-4.00pm
Women of London! Women of Britain! It’s time to dust off your banner and wrap up warm, because Reclaim The Night is here again.
Saturday 21st November will see women gather at 6.30pm at Whitehall Place, Central London for the women’s march to the Camden Centre in Kings Cross. From that point onwards there will be a mixed rally and a party until late.
And to remind us why we still need to Reclaim the Night, a quote from RTN’s own website;
“In every sphere of life we negotiate the threat or reality of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. We cannot claim equal citizenship while this threat restricts our lives as it does. We demand the right to use public space without fear. We demand this right as a civil liberty, we demand this as a human right.”
To mark the first annual Anti Street-Harassment Day, Dearbhaile Kitt reports on a growing movement that is aiming to put a stop to this most anti-social sexist practise.
Stephanie Phillips, of Don’t Dance Her Down Boys blog, went along to the launch event for UK Feminista to see what prospects the site might hold for the advancement UK women’s movement.
