The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hundreds hit streets to help halt violence
Hundreds of people have turned out in Dundee to campaign against gender-based violence in this year’s Reclaim the Night march.
The event last night marked the start of 16 days of international activism on the issue.
It also coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2021.
Marchers met at the Caird Hall to walk in solidarity through the city centre with the aim for women to “reclaim” the streets of Dundee so they can walk at night without fear of assault or rape.
Organised by Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (WRASAC) in Dundee and Angus, the march was the first of its kind held in the city since 2019.
Katie Hardy-jensen, manager of WRASAC, said the not-for-profit organisation continues to see a year-on-year increase in demand for its service
She said: “This is not just a women’s issue, genderbased violence is an issue for everyone.
“Women are told our whole lives how we must prevent assault, how we prevent rape, how we alter our behaviour, how we don’t go out at night, we don’t walk on our own, we carry keys, we change all of these different things.
“And even though we do all these things and we alter our behaviour, it’s never enough.
“Women are still getting assaulted, still getting raped, we still get murdered and society keeps telling us it’s our fault.
“What we want is women to be free to go about their day-to-day life without the risk of assault and without the risk of rape.
“We’re asking for change, we’re asking for people to take this issue seriously and I think one of the key things is we want men and boys to be engaged in this conversation.
“We’ve tried to make it family-friendly, we’re tried to get everyone engaged in the conversation.”
The first Reclaim the Night march in the UK was held in November 1977 when people in Leeds protested against the instructions from police for women to stay indoors after dark during the Yorkshire Ripper murders.
Katie added: “This isn’t about women taking over the world, this is about us being equal, being treated as equal, having equal rights and equal opportunities.”
In recent months, activists in Dundee have highlighted incidents where women have reported being spiked by injection at night-time venues and on the streets.
Louise Donnelly, a Dundee mum of three, is an advocacy worker at WRASAC and joined the march with her family.
She said: “I wanted to involve my whole family because gender-based violence is everybody’s issue, it’s not just for women and I really wanted my husband and my son to be there as well to show support at the march.”