Issue 1436 Monday 5th Dec 2022
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Est. 1948
thecourieronline.co.uk
The independent student paper conundrum Should Students’ Unions control the content published by student-led journalism? Campus Comment | page 6
The dark side to birth control Has the pill really liberated women?
Realtionships | page 12
World Cup bangers! Forget the football, which is the best World Cup single? Music | pages 20-21
Over 200 people take to the streets to ‘Reclaim the Night’ Daisy Harrison -Food & Drink sub-editor
S
aturday, 26 November saw the streets of Newcastle consumed by the chants of women, marching to Reclaim the Night. Starting on Bigg Market, and leading to Baltic Square by the Quayside, crowds of women rallied together, raising their voices, and demanding for an end to genderbased violence. Reclaim the Night marches started as part of the Women’s Liberation Movement in 1977, urging for a change to the safety of women and girls, where ‘woman’ is defined as anyone who self-identifies as such. Saturday’s event was delivered by the TUC Northern Women’s Group, in collaboration with West End Women and Girls Centre; It Happens Here; Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland; and Newcastle University Students’ Union. The main aims of the march included: - Raising awareness of the level of violence against women and girls across the world, and making sure people keep
talking about it; - To demand that local leaders, politicians, and decision-makers take action to ensure our homes, streets, and institutions are safe for all women and girls; - To remember all those lost to genderbased violence and show solidarity with those fighting to end it.
“The collective voice demanding change was very powerful” Abigail Hardcastle, IHH President Upon arriving at Bigg Market, a large group of women had gathered, with many blowing whistles and carrying posters, which displayed messages such as ‘vulva la revolution’ and ‘cats against catcalling’. At 18:00, the march proceeded down Highbridge, towards Grey Street. The general reception to the march was positive, with most people looking
Original photography: Laura Kasongo
interested in learning about the march, filming, or clapping. Additionally, chants of: ‘What do we want?’ ‘Safe Streets’, ‘When do we want them?’ ‘Now!’ and ‘Whose Streets?’ ‘Our Streets!’, paired with the noise of whistles and megaphones, caught the attention of passers-by. President of ‘It Happens Here’, Abigail Hardcastle, described the march as “an extremely emotional experience...one of the most moving parts of the march was when we were shouting ‘Whose Streets?’ ‘Our Streets!’...that collective voice demanding change was very powerful”. Although the march was met with the confirmation that gender-based violence is still very present in the streets of Newcastle, when a crowd of men began to boo the march, NUSU President, Madeline Baugh, commented that their behavior was “embarrassing” and “disgusting”, with it only “exemplifying exactly why we have to keep marching to reclaim the night... our voices matter, they have power, and they make a difference”. The men’s adverse reaction towards the march thus only stirred the women to raise their voices even louder and proceed in
solidarity with their reclamation of the night.
Each woman had a different story to tell but they were united through their commitments Drivers blew their horns in support of the cause, which contributed to the lively atmosphere of the march, and rallied the marchers down the hill. Once at the Quayside, we were met by ‘The Bangshees’, who are an all-female samba drumming band. They brought a lot of great noise and attention to the march, with passers-by stopping to film it. Before stopping in Baltic Square, the Millennium Bridge was the last point in our route. At the request of TUC, Gateshead Council had lit the Bridge up in orange. According to UNESCO, orange symbolises a brighter future, free of violence, and therefore demonstrates solidarity in eliminating gender-based
violence. Once the march arrived in Baltic Square, candles were lit and a minute’s silence took place to remember all the women and girls who have lost their lives due to gender-based violence. This was followed by several speakers, including TUC’s Pat Heron; NUSU President Madeline Baugh; It Happens Here President and Welfare Officer, Abigail Hardcastle and Olivia Wilson; West End Women and Girl’s Centre; and many other inspiring women. Madeline encouraged everyone present at the march to take part in a song, with the lyrics ‘she is weary from standing alone’ and ‘there is power in solidarity’, while Abigail and Olivia recounted their experiences of gender-based violence. Whilst each woman had a different story to tell, they were united through their commitment to demanding an end to violence against women and girls. Abigail Hardcastle told The Courier that “Reclaim the Night enabled our society to amplify survivor’s voices by calling for action, showing institutions that their inaction to deal with these issues is unacceptable and will not be tolerated”. Members of It Happens Here were holding their ’85 hands for 85 women’ banner, which was created to mark ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’ and represents the 85 women who have lost their lives due to gender-based violence so far this year. The banner acted as a pertinent reminder for all those present at the march as to why it’s imperative that we demand for action in relation to gender-based violence. Reclaim the Night gave a voice to some of the women and girls who are otherwise marginalised, allowing them to stand in solidarity, and demand for change against gendered violence. Pat Heron invited everyone to attend the march again next year, showing that we still have a long, arduous journey before it will no longer be necessary to take to the streets, raise our voices, and demand for an end to gender-based violence against women and girls.