Suffolk charity marching to 'reclaim the night' for women's safety
They want more work to be done around shifting the blame from women to the perpetrators of sexual violence
Suffolk Rape Crisis tells us it wants more work to be done around shifting the blame from women to the perpetrators of sexual violence.
They'll be taking part in a Reclaim the Night march in Ipswich this evening to campaign for safer environments allowing women and girls to walk without fear after dark.
Lauren Bantock is from the charity and tells us why its important: "97% of women experience some form of sexual violence in their lives.
"Sexual violence is not just rape, it's catcalling and image-based abuse also known as revenge porn as well as microaggressions that we hear on a day to day basis, the sexist jokes, the misogyny, the little comments written off as 'just banter'."
Ipswich's Reclaim the Night march will take place this evening (7th December) at the University of Suffolk.
The charity tells us the theme of this year's march is ‘take up space’, with Lauren explaining the theme was chosen to "highlight how sexual violence reduces women’s personal freedom and how we can take back a sense of control, to be seen and heard, by using the concept of ‘space for action’."
We also spoke to Tasha Cobb, the Outreach Service Manager of Suffolk Rape Crisis, who told Greatest Hits they are also highlighting the "invisible safety" measures that women take, like "putting your keys in between your fingers and avoiding dark alleyways."
They told us for many women, these behaviours come naturally for them but that this "isn't okay" and women "deserve to be able to feel safe when we're going out at night."
There is still work that needs to be done
Although Suffolk Rape Crisis believes progress has been made, the charity says there is still a lot of work that needs to be done., with Lauren and Tasha saying: "there is still very much a sense that it's a woman's responsibility to keep themselves safe - for example thinking about how they're dressed or how much they've had to drink.
"Some people still see these things as reasons for sexual violence, but we want this perspective to shift - it's the perpetrator that actively makes those choices."