Over three hundred protestors took to the streets to protest against sexual violence and street harassment last night for this year’s Cambridge Reclaim the Night march.

The march, which was open to all self-defining females, began at Parkers Piece at 8pm, with demonstrators proceeding to Regents Street, Market Square, and ending at Kings College Chapel, where a candlelit vigil was held.

Protestors were led by Susy Langsdale, CUSU Women’s Officer and Coordinator of the CUSU Women’s Campaign. This year for the first time they worked in conjunction with Anglia Ruskin’s Student Union, together with local women’s charities.

Speaking to Varsity, Langsdale was keen to stress the relevance of the march. “Street harassment and rape is sadly far too commonplace. By marching together we take a stand against this and demonstrate that the fear women experience is not acceptable or accepted.”

On the issue that the march was open only to self-defining women she said: “as well as the bold statement the march makes to onlookers, it also serves to build participating women's confidence in walking the streets, reinforcing the idea that they do not have to stay quiet about the fear of harassment or assault.

Some women attended the protest in colourful face paint holding glow sticks, while others cheered and held up placards. The crowd chanted: “Women unite! Reclaim the night!  End the silence on sexual violence.” A sign at the march read: “Believe the victim not the rapist!”, while the message on another said “Whatever I do, wherever I go, yes means yes, and no means no.”

A 2007 survey by More Magazine found that 95% of women feel unsafe on the streets at night, while the 2010 NUS Hidden Marks survey found 1 in 20 female students will experience sexual assault during their time at university.

Paige Maison, a first-year Law student from Emma who attended the march, said of her reasons for demonstrating: “I think a lot of people don’t realise that it’s a problem, and some people think we’re making a fuss out of nothing, but that’s easy enough to say when you are not the one scared to leave the house at night in case you get shouted abuse at or worse.  Half the population shouldn’t have to live under curfew.”

As the women’s march proceeded through the town centre, local residents stopped to take pictures on camera phones. The women protestors were joined at Great St Mary’s Church by a 30 strong crowd of male students who had held a separate gathering in solidarity with the women protestors.

Joe Bates, a third year Music student at Gonville and Caius, said; “I came to protest against rape culture, to help to say that the streets should be safer for women and for everyone. There are many proactive male feminists at Cambridge. We need more but numbers are increasing.”

Some male students had voiced opposition to the exclusion of men from the main march, with one posting on the event’s Facebook page “Way to exclude male feminists from the process. You guys sure do know how to make friends. Pathetic.” Wassim Yaqoob, a third-year History PhD student who attended the male solidarity demonstration, said; “I think it was fine that men met separately, it was the decision of the women’s campaign. It is women organising themselves in whichever way they see fit. I came to show my solidarity with women because I know they experience sexual harassment regularly on the streets of every town I have ever lived in and every town they have ever lived in.”  

Another student, James Black, reiterated these comments, adding “I think it’s right that it stays separate; it’s all about women being able to march on their own. That was the whole point of the protest, to have the freedom to walk on the streets, just women by themselves without any fear of reprisal, or fear of being raped, or sexual violence.”

Both groups marched on King’s College Chapel where they took part in a candlelit vigil with guest speakers and poetry. Speakers included Natalie Szarack, CUSU Women’s Officer in 2008-2010, who recounted the history of the Reclaim the Night marches, the first of which took place in 1977 in Leeds following the Yorkshire Ripper murders, in protest at the police response to tell women not to go at night. They claimed this effectively restricted them, and put the blame on women for men’s violence.

Szareck acknowledged that the feminist movement still had some way to go to support women at the sharpest end of gender oppression, referencing the recent furore over comments made by Julie Burchill towards the transgender community and criticisms levelled at Caitlin Moran for racial insensitivity. “We stand in solidarity with the women who are at the sharpest end of gender oppression, and that includes sex workers, black women, Asian women, queer women, women who are refugees, asylum seekers, traveller women, disabled women, trans women, any women who face more than one kind of oppression.”

Julia Gray, from online group “Hollaback”, which provides a forum for women to talk about their experiences of sexual harassment, spoke next about her aim that women feel empowered to "hollaback". “I have been experiencing street harassment ever since I grew boobs at 14. We need to talk about it a lot. We need to talk to our brothers and sisters and dads and male friends and educate each other to create social change.”

The third speaker was a local representative from Women’s Aid, Angie, who asked attendees not to forget that the majority of sexual violence is committed by someone previously known to the victim, within a domestic setting. “With depressing consistency two women will die each week at the hands of their current or ex partner. In the UK domestic violence is the main reason that pregnant women die and I have known too many women who have miscarried at the hands of partner violence.”  

The candlelit evening ended with a performance by young London based poet Bridget Minamore, exploring the topic of victim blaming.

The march coincided with the launch of a lighting trial on Parker's Piece, in a bid to improve safety for people crossing the open space after dark. The trial will involve lighting the path from Parkside into the centre of the open space, known as “Reality Checkpoint”, and will last for four weeks.

Susy Langsdale has described the lights as “a big win” for the CUSU women’s Campaign that ran the “Right to Light” campaign after a woman was raped on Parker’s Piece in May 2011. Several students have since raised concerns about assaults and of incidents of indecent exposure at a council meeting last year. She added, however, that “there are still many areas that are poorly lit such as St. Edmunds Passage, Christ's Piece and West Road to name a few.”

Cllr Tim Bick, who is responsible for Community Safety on the City Council, commented “Parkers Piece is a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city and we would like people to feel safer using it after dark. There have been a number incidents reported to the Police in the hours of darkness and many people, including student groups, have asked for us to do something to make it less of a place of concealment.”

Residents can give feedback on the scheme on the council website at www.cambridge.gov.uk/consultations and only if it is deemed successful will the scheme be expanded across the city