Reclaim the Night 2014 in Paisley
Writer
Glasgow’s annual Reclaim the Night march will take to the streets in protest against sexual violence in Scotland on November 25.
Glasgow’s Student Unions have banded together to organise this year’s march, following in the footsteps of the Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.
This year the Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre and the National Union of Students will partner up in the march to celebrating the theme of intersectionality.
There will be individual blocks organised within the march. These groups include women and non-binary individuals, a family friendly section, a group for disabled protesters, and a quiet group following the general march. As in previous years, the march will be led by SheBoom Drums, an all-female drumming troupe.
This year, protesters will assemble at Glasgow Green at 6:30pm with an expected start time of 7pm. The march will stop at Strathclyde Students’ Association at 8pm to hear from a selection of speakers on the topic of sexual violence in Scotland.
Throughout the march, there will be many opportunities to donate to Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre to facilitate their continued support of sexual violence victims in Scotland.
The Equality Network will be representing LGBT+ individuals, in addition to SCOT-PEP who support the rights of sex workers in Scotland.
Between 2014 and 2015, there were a reported 1,797 cases of rape and 104 attempted rapes in Scotland. Totalling 1,901 instances of rape and attempted rape, only 270 were prosecuted, and just 125 perpetrators convicted. At this time, a further 9,557 sexual offences were recorded, an overall increase of 11% from the previous year, and the highest recorded rate of sexual violence in Scotland since 1971. Despite the fact that Scotland’s crime rate has reportedly decreased, the occurrence of sexual offences is on the rise.
A resurgence in Reclaim the Night marches has seen student unions take a bigger role in campaigning against sexual violence and gender based violence. This campaign is following on the heels of the Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council’s initiative to provide sexual violence prevention workshops across campus. In preparation for the march, the Isabella Elder Feminist Society hosted a banner making session on the 21 November to encourage Glasgow students to get involved.
The Facebook event for the march can be found here.
