More than 200 women took to the city centre on Friday night for a march to demand the right to walk the streets of Oxford without fear of assault and rape.
The walkers gathered in Gloucester Green at 6.30pm and walked through the city centre holding pickets and chanting before gathering in Ruskin College, on Walton Street, for a mixed-sex rally with speakers and music to raise awareness of Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre. Reclaim the Night demonstrations have been held across the country since the 1970s, but have only been held in Oxford since 2007. The theme of this year’s march focused on the issue of consent.
Natalie Brook, a co-organizer of the event, said: “One of the reasons that we are talking about consent this year is that unfortunately there is quite a preconception in the UK that women are to blame if they are sexually assaulted. They are blamed for wearing a short skirt, being too drunk, walking home alone at night. It’s becoming quite common for men and women to believe that women have some role to play in their rape. That women have somehow asked to be raped is a dangerous message to be out there and it detracts from the role that the perpetrator has in the attack. This march is about raising awareness the women are not to blame.”
Louise Livesey, a Sociology and Women’s Studies tutor at Ruskin and a member of the march’s organizing committee, said: “It’s over 30 years since Reclaim the Night marches started and we are still having to fight to put violence against women and girls on the agenda and get it taken seriously. The idea of being in the same place in another 30 years is a really bleak future."
She has been helping organize the march since 2009, and added: “This year has been bigger and better and we will work towards continuing to grow the event next year.”
Male student Lewis Kinch, 23, who studies Youth and Community Work at Ruskin, joined the rally. He said: “I associate with a lot of men who don’t understand the feminist movement. It’s hard to go to them and explain about equality. What I would like to see is a lot more men understanding where the feminist movement is coming from and to explore how we can bring men into it.”
Victoria Jones, 32, an artist from Abingdon Road, said: “It was really great to be out on the march with a group of women all being strong together. It was really empowering.”
