The ‘Reclaim the Night’ campaign will march this Friday at 6.30pm from the East Oxford Community Centre to St Michael’s at the Northgate Church to raise awareness of violence against women, and to take a stand for those who do not feel safe going out alone at night.
“Young people continue to receive messages that violence against women and the harassment and coercion of women is acceptable”, said Hannah Clare, joint-co-ordinator of the Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, arguing “attitudes need to change”.
Emily Middleton, President of Oxford University Amnesty International, said that the organisation “strongly supports” the march. “As Amnesty has highlighted, at least one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime; anything we can do to raise awareness of this fact is very welcome.”
There was a rise in reported rapes of nearly 20% in Oxfordshire between 2007/8 and 2008/9, but only 6.5% of reports resulted in conviction, according to police reports.
