About Reclaim the Night
Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence. In Bristol supporters organise vigils to remember those affected by sexual violence and march to demonstrate our right to walk thestreets at night. We organise rallies and club nights to raise funds for a local service and to celebrate the achievements of the organisations and individuals who work to support victims of sexual violence.
In 2011, we still live in a rape culture. This means that we live in a world where rape myths that seek to blame women for the violence committed against them are widely believed. It means that women are held responsible for preventing rape and preventing violence, by modifying their own behaviour to ‘avoid’ rape. But rape is not a natural hazard, like a cliff edge, that women can ‘carefully avoid’. It is a deliberate, vicious and violent crime that is committed by another person. Yet despite this, every day women find their freedoms are restricted. When attacks on women make the news, the response remains the same. Stay indoors, don’t drink, use the buddy system. At Christmas, posters all over the country warned women about the dangers of rape by telling them to restrict their freedoms. ‘Let your hair down, not your guard’, we were told. But those who rape, those who are to blame for violence against women, they have freedom.
This year in the UK, 100,000 women will have been raped. And yet the conviction rate from reporting to trial stays pitifully low, at 6.5%. Women who are brave enough to report rape find that it is they, not the rapist, who is put on trial. Reclaim the Night demands an end to this injustice.
The aims of Reclaim the Night are to educate about consent and violence against women. To educate and eradicate the myths that surround rape, to eradicate the belief that women are to blame if their drunk or have a history with the attacker, to educate and eradicate the belief that men can’t stop once they’ve started, to educate and eradicate the belief that only stranger rape is real rape. To educate about respect and consent in relationships. To educate and empower men and women about their sexuality and relationships.
We aim to bring justice to victims, to improve the conviction rate so that those who are guilty of rape pay for their crime, to ensure that women are believed.
And we aim to support the services in Bristol that are helping victims and survivors of sexual assault every day – Rape Crisis, the SARC, One25, and many more. These services are vital to the women in Bristol, but their funding is always under threat.
Every year in Bristol we march with in solidarity to end violence against women and girls. Ban-Ki Moon called violence against women and girls the ‘greatest human rights violation of our time’. March with us, and demand an end to the violence.
In 2011, we still live in a rape culture. This means that we live in a world where rape myths that seek to blame women for the violence committed against them are widely believed. It means that women are held responsible for preventing rape and preventing violence, by modifying their own behaviour to ‘avoid’ rape. But rape is not a natural hazard, like a cliff edge, that women can ‘carefully avoid’. It is a deliberate, vicious and violent crime that is committed by another person. Yet despite this, every day women find their freedoms are restricted. When attacks on women make the news, the response remains the same. Stay indoors, don’t drink, use the buddy system. At Christmas, posters all over the country warned women about the dangers of rape by telling them to restrict their freedoms. ‘Let your hair down, not your guard’, we were told. But those who rape, those who are to blame for violence against women, they have freedom.
This year in the UK, 100,000 women will have been raped. And yet the conviction rate from reporting to trial stays pitifully low, at 6.5%. Women who are brave enough to report rape find that it is they, not the rapist, who is put on trial. Reclaim the Night demands an end to this injustice.
The aims of Reclaim the Night are to educate about consent and violence against women. To educate and eradicate the myths that surround rape, to eradicate the belief that women are to blame if their drunk or have a history with the attacker, to educate and eradicate the belief that men can’t stop once they’ve started, to educate and eradicate the belief that only stranger rape is real rape. To educate about respect and consent in relationships. To educate and empower men and women about their sexuality and relationships.
We aim to bring justice to victims, to improve the conviction rate so that those who are guilty of rape pay for their crime, to ensure that women are believed.
And we aim to support the services in Bristol that are helping victims and survivors of sexual assault every day – Rape Crisis, the SARC, One25, and many more. These services are vital to the women in Bristol, but their funding is always under threat.
Every year in Bristol we march with in solidarity to end violence against women and girls. Ban-Ki Moon called violence against women and girls the ‘greatest human rights violation of our time’. March with us, and demand an end to the violence.
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