The Exeter Reclaim the Night March 2010

In November, Exeter was to have seen its first Reclaim the Night March, a march in keeping with the others nationwide promoting awareness of the issues women face, particularly walking at night. Sadly, this event is now no longer to take place, at least, not in November. Below is the email sent by Caitlin Hayward-Tapp, the president of Exeter University's Gender Equality Society, explaining the situation:

Dear all,

I'm afraid I have some sad news. For now, Exeter Reclaim the Night is going to have to be cancelled. This is certainly not for want of trying - in fact, it very nearly became a reality. However, the Devon Police Force withdrew its support, rendering the march financially impossible.

Their reasons for doing so are two-fold. The first is a desire not to take officers away from their core duties. Their second reason is much less palatable - a Reclaim the Night march is, apparently, not of National Significance. This statement follows detailed descriptions of the aims of such an event: to protest the shockingly low national rape conviction rate, to raise awareness of the importance of women's safety on the streets at night, and to campaign for a rape crisis centre to be opened in Devon.

One would hope that women's safety would be a number one priority of the police force. This response shatters that illusion. Of course, we're not taking this lying down. While there is a limit to how much we can do to change the police force's decision, we can make our discontent and disapproval heard. In order to do this, the committee have drawn up a petition.

This message, then, is not entirely bad news. There is something you can do to help. Please come find us, in town or on campus - I'll be sending out times as soon as we know them - and sign the petition. Also, if you'd like to be part of the campaigning team don't hesitate to get in touch. The more of us out there making ourselves heard, the better.

This situation is such a shame, as I know just how much effort went into making this happen. But we can show that, although women's safety might not be a priority to Devon's Police Force, it is to us. If we can't make the message heard on the streets of Exeter, we do have the internet. Use Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or anything to let people know. If you're in Exeter sign the petition. Even if you're not, please sign the online petition. And there IS still hope. Caitlin ends her e-mail with this:

Thank you all for your support thus far. We WILL bring Reclaim the Night to the streets of Exeter, one way or another. And when we do, we hope to see you there.

UPDATE, 21/10/2010: The Exeter Reclaim The Night event has a blog, which will keep be used to keep you updated on events.