- Conference
- 2008 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 22 October 2007
- Decision
- Carried
Conference congratulates The London Feminist Network for another successful Reclaim the Night march on 24th November 2007. Conference is pleased to note that the National Women’s Committee has been added to the list of supporters for what is now an important annual event for women.
When Reclaim the Night marches first began in the 1970’s it was because women were appalled that only 1 in 3 rapists were convicted. The marches were initiated as a way for women to come together and to protest at the unacceptably high levels of rape and sexual violence perpetrated against women, and at the state’s failure to provide justice for the victims of this violence. Shockingly, thirty years later only 1 in 20 rapists are convicted, which is why it is essential that the marches were started again.
Conference believes that women must continue to highlight how their fear of men’s sexual violence controls and often limits how they use public space, particularly in the evenings. It is because of the clear, gendered message of the protest that we believe the marches must continue in the true and same spirit they were carried out originally – women only, to keep the issue clear and focused and to give women their own voice.
Conference therefore calls upon the National Women’s Committee to:
1)Continue to support the London Feminist Network’s Reclaim the Night
2)Advertise this important annual event to women throughout UNISON
3)Urge all women members to take part in the annual Reclaim the Night march.
4)Encourage all Regional Women’s Committees to attend and take part in the annual Reclaim the Night march.
5)Commission and purchase a UNISON Women’s banner that can be carried at demonstrations such as this, to ensure that UNISON’s support for such events is publicly declared.