Events end with Reclaim the Night march
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh MP, Nazir Afzal OBE, John Carnochan OBE and Dr Mairead Tagg Sixteen days of activism against gender violence will conclude with a march through Perth on Thursday this week.
Organised by the Perth and Kinross Violence Against Women Partnership, the ‘Reclaim the Night’ march will see more than 100 people walk from OWLS, situated at number 58 on the Fair City’s Mill Street, just before 6pm.
Having marched down the High Street, they will head to the council buildings to meet Provost Liz Grant.
The event has been planned to emphasise the right of women to walk the streets without fear of sexual violence and follows a series of events around the same theme – which began with a major conference at Perth Concert Hall on November 25.
Speakers included clinical psychologist and trauma expert Dr Mairead Tagg, who spoke about coercive control in relationships.
In addition John Carnochan OBE, a retired Detective Chief Superintendent and veteran of 39 years in the police, considered if violent offending was inevitable or preventable.
Meanwhile, Nazir Afzal OBE – known for being the chief prosecutor in the Rochdale sex trafficking case – touched on protecting the vulnerable, describing his work on cases of ‘honour’ killings and the fight to banish female genital mutilation (FGM).
Finally MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, described how when appearing as a guest on BBC panel show Question Time, she’d been booed by the TV audience – for, she said, being Scottish, female and a Muslim.