Bristol SU: Reclaim the Night Toolkit

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Contents1. Cover page

2. Contents

3. A note from the author

4. Our route in 2014

5. The sticky question: who and why?

6. Marshalling

7. Marshal briefing 2014

8. Chant sheet

9. The after party

10.Risk assessment

11.Thank you for reading

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A note from the author…Hello,And welcome to the Bristol SU Reclaim the Night toolkit. I’m Alice Phillips, the 2014-15 Equality, Liberation and Access Officer at Bristol SU. In November 2014 I organised Bristol SU’s first Reclaim the Night march, and I can safely say it’s the best thing I’ve done in this job, and actually probably in my life!Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence, which started in the 1970s, with the first UK march taking place in 1977 as a response to the “Yorkshire Ripper” murders of women sex workers. Marches take place at night to protest against the victim blaming attitudes that tell women to stay off the streets if they want to avoid sexual violence or harassment.Why Reclaim the Night?

Ministry of Justice figures tell us that 1 in 5 women (aged 16 - 59) in the UK has experienced some form of sexual violence.

The NUS Hidden Marks Report (2010) found that more than one third of women students reported feeling unsafe when visiting their university or college building in the evening. 

The report also found that 1 in 7 women had experienced a serious physical or sexual assault during their time at university.

New NUS research published this year found that 37% of women students had experienced unwelcome sexual advances whilst at University.

These stats show that decades after the original Reclaim the Night marches, sexual violence is still a massive issue facing women today. This is why it is so important that as women students we organise Reclaim the Night marches for our campuses. This toolkit hopefully lays out all the things you need to think about when organising a Reclaim the Night march. Your first step will probably be a general interest meeting in an accessible place, where you can identify the key aims and messages of your march. You can then get organising by assigning roles and responsibilities to individuals or groups. I hope this toolkit will help women students at the University of Bristol organise Reclaim the Night marches for years to come. Alice PhillipsEquality, Liberation and Access Officer 2014-15

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Our Route in 2014

Deciding on a route is one of the first things you’ll need to do when organising your march. It’s important to make your march highly visible, so you’ll want to route it accordingly.

We started our march in Queen Square with a candlelit vigil to remember survivors of sexual assault and rape. We lit hundreds of candles around the statue in the middle of the square, and a student read out a poem she had written.

After this we set off across the square and down Marsh Street, joining Baldwin Street opposite Start the Bus, where there were lots of people around.

Our route then took us round the big roundabout in the centre, which drew a lot of attention from people walking home and on buses, as well as motorists!

The route then took us up Park Street, where we got lots of attention with people coming out of shops and pubs to take pictures of the march.

We followed the A4018 and then turned off at Queens Road to get to the Students’ Union building, where we had speeches, bands and DJs in the Anson Rooms.

Once you have decided your route you will need to send it to the council in good time as they may have suggested changes - traffic@bristol.gov.uk

It is also polite to notify the police of your plans - https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact-us/general-contact-enquiries/general-contact-and-enquiry-form/

Make sure you consider accessibility when planning your route – think about the length of the march and the condition and flatness of the road.

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The sticky question: Who and Why? Reclaim the Night marches across the world take a variety of forms. Some

are women only, such as the London march. Others are open to women and people who experience discrimination or oppression based on their gender identity, such as Sheffield.

Some marches opt for a women only section at the start of the march, whilst others decide to open the whole march up to all genders.

In 2014 we decided to make our whole march open to all genders, but all stewards would be self-defining women.

It is essential that all stewards are self-defining women regardless of the gender make up on your march, to ensure that women attending feel safe.

The primary reason for our march being open to all genders was direct feedback from some Trans women that they did not feel comfortable in women only spaces.

It was also expected that those who did not experience gender oppression themselves would recognise that their place was probably not at the head of the march.

This was largely the case, but not entirely – so it is worth considering this when deciding the gender makeup of your march.

If you decide upon a self-defining women only section at the front of the march it is important that it is made extremely implicit that this section is trans-inclusive.

At Bristol SU we follow the NUS definition of woman which is ‘all who self-define as women, including (if they wish) those with complex gender identities which include 'woman', and those who experience oppression as women’.

It is imperative that gender policing does not happen on the march. Therefore any women only section should be well publicised prior to the march, and signs made to be held by stewards between the sections stating that the women only section is ahead.

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Marshalling Bristol City Council’s advice is one marshal per 50 marchers. To be on the

safe side we recruited 20 marshals. We then had three head marshals – one at the front, one at the back and

one in the middle. These were to make sure the march stayed together and any issues could be fed back and forth.

The head marshals at the front and back of the march had walky talkies to communicate with each other.

About 5 marshals were at the top of the march, fairly ahead of the march itself, to stop traffic when it was necessary with ‘STOP’ signs.

About 5 marshals were at the back to deal with any issues there, along with a first aider.

The rest of the marshals were spread across the march, walking alongside it on the traffic side (we took up one half of the road) to ensure that no one got too close to traffic.

All marshals attended a briefing session with the head marshals before the march on the information on the briefing sheet below. This was also a chance for the marshals to ask any questions they had before the march kicked off.

Because we had over 200 marchers (500!) we had to march in the road. If you have under 200 marchers you can march on the pavement – but why would you want to do that!

Because we were marching at night we were required by the council to be followed directly by a vehicle with a flashing beacon on the top of their car. The vehicle can be any car (we asked a friend!) – The Students’ Union has a beacon that you can borrow for the march. It’s magnetic and fits easily on the top of a car (which will need a cigarette lighter to be plugged in).

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Marshal Briefing 2014Reclaim the Night is an international movement against sexual violence. Marches take place at night to protest against the victim blaming which tells women to stay off the streets if they want to avoid sexual violence or harassment. Key Points:

- As marshals you are there to make sure the march remains safe, we have already risk assessed the route but you will need to be alert to any potential hazards on the day.

- High-Vis tabards will be provided on the day but must be returned to Bristol SU.

- We will be marching in the roads not pavements. These roads will not be closed to traffic which is why we need to be alert to potential hazards.

- Please familiarise yourself with the route (see map)

- Traffic: You will be allocated roads on the day that you will be responsible for. This means temporarily stopping traffic exiting these roads until the march has passed. You will be given a sign to hold asking drivers to stop but don’t forget to smile and say thank you when you reopen the road.

- Traffic: If a car does cut in please speak to the driver and ask for them to leave at the next possible turning and inform one of the supervisors below

- Marchers: You need to ensure marchers stay on the correct side of the road and do not cross into lanes with traffic coming towards them.

- Marchers: Make sure marchers stay close together, big gaps could allow traffic to merge into the march.

- Marchers: As the roads widens you will need to ensure marchers spread out to cover several lanes – Our front marchers will lead this so encourage people to follow

- Marchers: If anyone injures themselves or there is a lost child them inform Jemma/Alyx (see below)

Supervisors:Phone numbers provided on the dayAnn (Front) Amy (Middle)Jemma (Back / Lost Child) Alyx (First aider)

Thank you: Thank you for volunteering to marshal, without your support the march would not be possible so thank you again for allowing us to Reclaim the Night!

Bristol SU Reclaim the Night 2014 – Chant Sheet

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#RTNBristol14

Whatever we wear, Wherever we go, Yes means yes and no means noWhat do we want? Safe streets! When do we want them? Now!!Whose streets!? Our streets!!!!Women unite, Reclaim the Night! Our streets,Our night,Feeling safe is our rightStop the shaming, Stop the blaming,Tonight in Bristol, We are reclaiming1 2 3 4 Bristol hear our roar,5 6 7 8 It's not a crime to stay out lateNo justice, No peace, Bristol reclaims these streetsHey hey,Ho ho,Sexual violence has got to goWe demand the right,To walk the streets at night

The After PartySpeakers:

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We printed 50 of these and handed them out! We also

gave out 50 glow in the dark whistles.

Try to get a diverse range of speakers and in doing so think about how different women might be affected by sexual violence e.g. sex workers, women of faith, BME women, LGBTQI+ women.

There are a lot of really good charities doing excellent work in Bristol who are often very happy to speak at this kind of event. This list on the Bristol Women’s Voice website is very useful - http://www.bristolwomensvoice.org.uk/organisations-supporting-women/safety/

In 2014 our speakers were: Alice Phillips (Equality, Liberation and Access Officer at Bristol SU and principal organiser), Megan Armstrong (Bristol SU Women’s Officer), Susuana Antubam (NUS Women’s Officer), Shabana Kauser (BAVA), Sarah Wilson (Kinergy) and Rowan Miller (SARSAS).

We also collected money for Kinergy as marchers filed through the doors into the Students’ Union.

If you want your stewards to collect money for charity on the route itself you will need advance permission from the council.

Music: For such an event you probably want something uplifting, dancey

and women focussed! We had live sets from solo loop and beatbox artist Suzy

Condrad and seven piece ska-reggae band Muff Said.  We also asked local DJ collective Lipstick on Your Collar to do a

couple of sets for us, and they came and played lots of fantastic music by women!

All performers and speakers were happy to help the project by playing and speaking for free. This was massively appreciated by us and it’s worth taking this opportunity to thank them again!

Risk assessment

You will need to complete a risk assessment before the march. This is a useful exercise as it will help you to prepare for all possible risks during the march. It is

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also a good document to have on file in case the council, police or University security would like to see it.Below is the risk assessment for the 2014 Reclaim the Night march – feel free to use it as a template for your risk assessment!

Thank you for reading this toolkit… And good luck with your Reclaim the Night march!

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