WATCH: Bristol Shines a light on women's safety
Last night the community joined together to shine a light on harassment of women, signalling Bristol as a zero-tolerance city.
Last updated 25th Mar 2022
On Thursday 24th March, people from across the city joined together to shine a light on harassment of women, signalling Bristol as a zero-tolerance city.
Starting from Castle Park and outside the Victoria Rooms on Queen’s Road, night-time economy workers and supporter held illuminated batons and dressed in light to parade through the streets of Bristol before converging at the Amphitheatre for a short speech from Councillor Nicola Beech; artist, MC and poet, Inja, reading his poem ‘She just wanna dance’ - followed by music from rising female DJ collective, Booty Bass.
The parade coincided with the unveiling of the first of two murals curated collaboratively by three Bristol artists: ‘It’s Not OK’ by Emily Joy Rich, which was completed today, This week a huge three wall mural will begin by Bristol artists HazardOne and Oli T, all supported by the UPFEST team.
Taking over an iconic building on the edge of Castle Park, the murals are a clear symbol of the city's stance against harassment but are also a physical representation of the action being taken to create safer areas for Bristol. This is the first time the building has ever been painted in the city centre, with the support of Bristol City Council and MEPC Limited. Once the second mural is complete, UV lights will bring the messages to life for those enjoying the night-time economy.
The Shine A Light Parade is part of a co-ordinated response to a recent survey that found that 100% of women in Bristol have experienced sexual harassment in some form. Many of the night-time economy workers in the parade had attended training sessions as part of an ambition to train 1,000 people in Bristol to recognise and challenge harassment. Co-ordinated by Bristol City Centre BID, it supports venue staff to implement a zero-tolerance approach in Bristol, while also promoting the need for anyone witnessing any unwanted behaviour in the city’s night-time economy to immediately call it out to staff.
Last week saw the launch of the Bristol Women’s Safety Charter which will invite businesses with staff working at night to follow seven commitments to take action to protect their female workforce.
The parade is organised by Bristol Nights which represents the night-time economy, which constitutes over 30% of the jobs in Bristol. Funding for the campaign is provided through a successful bid for £282,000 from the Home Office’s Safety of Women at Night Fund.
Carly Heath, Bristol Night-Time Economy Advisor, said:
“Improving the safety of women at night is vital and is a challenge which cannot be achieved without allies throughout the city. Following a two-month research phase involving a range of Bristol audiences, this project will seek to improve public understanding of what constitutes harassment and how often it happens. We know that many crimes against women at night go unreported but are widely witnessed. This campaign invites bystanders to call out unwanted behaviour, while empowering those working in the night-time economy to recognise and execute a zero-tolerance response to harassment in their venues and workplaces.”
“A beacon of light and music shone through the streets of Bristol this evening, as groups from all sectors of the night time economy came together to spread a simple message: harassment is not tolerated in our city. Led by bands and 100 people bearing lights, the city paraded together towards the amphitheatre in a celebration of solidarity and culture.”
“This is just the start of a journey for us as a zero-tolerance city for harassment of women, creating a unified city with active allies.”
For more information
More information can be found about the Bristol Nights training with night-time economy businesses here: https://www.bristolnights.co.uk/anti-sexual-harassment.
More information can be found about the new Bristol Women's Safety Charter here:
https://www.bristolnights.co.uk/womens-safety-charter
For more information about the campaign please visit: https://www.bristolnights.co.uk/
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.