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How to Organise a Reclaim the Night March

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How to Organise a Reclaim the Night March How to organise a Reclaim the Night march First of all, it’s good to point out what Reclaim the Night (RTN) is. It’s traditionally a women’s march to reclaim the streets after dark, a show of resistance and strength against sexual harassment and assault. It is to make the point that women do not have the right to use public space alone, or with female friends, especially at night, without being seen as ‘fair game’ for harassment and the threat or reality of sexual violence. We should not need chaperones (though that whole Mr Darcy scene is arguably a bit cool, as is Victorian clothing, but not the values). We should not need to have a man with us at all times to protect us from other men. This is also the reason why the marches are traditionally women-only; having men there dilutes our visi- ble point. Our message has much more symbolism if we are women together. How many marches do you see through your town centre that are made up of just women? Exactly. So do think before ruling out your biggest unique selling point. Anyway, the RTN marches first started in several cities in Britain in November 1977, when the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) was last at its height, a period called the Second Wave. The idea for the marches was copied from co-ordinated midnight marches across West German cities earlier that same year in April 1977. The marches came to stand for women’s protest against all forms of male violence against women, but particularly sexual vio- lence. Today we march for the same reasons, except if anything, the situation is worse now than it was then. Then women were appalled that only 1 in 3 rapists were ever convicted; today that figure is around 1 in 20. It’s important that as many women as possible take to the streets to say that this is not accept- able and to demand justice. We women make up the backbone of every social movement going, for peace, for the environment, for children’s and animal rights, against war and racism; yet we don’t specifically take up our own rights nearly often enough. And we have every right to. And we need to; now more than ever. So, what ingredients do you need to start your own RTN march? First of all you take some fine chocolate, milk or dark will do, fair trade is best, vegan is better. And you eat that. Then you set to trying to find some political, savvy women with time on their hands. You need to find at least five or six of these women. This is the hard part. They can sometimes be stolen from other groups, though this won’t enamour you to your local Stop the War or trade union branch, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. If you are a student, you may find the recruitment easier, though you will have to have at least 237 arguments about if, why, on what grounds and whether your march should be women-only or not, and what about men and whojamaflip’s boyfriend, who is really, really lovely etc. Actually, you will probably have to have these arguments even if you are not a student. In fact, to be honest, if How to organise a Reclaim the Night march 295 you are a woman working politically with other women on women’s rights, you will need to have these arguments; that’s why I said you would need to find women with time on their hands. Because we have to factor in justifying our own movement, as well as organising our own movement, it’s a very good thing that we are all so talented and energetic. This is all before the organising even starts. Give up your day job. Once you have found some women who you agree with on at least a most basic level, you need to set a date for your march. As soon as you have set a date, start immediately telling everyone and anyone, even without any other details; just get the date out in the ether, in real and cyber space. Usually the marches are around the 25th of November, to add an international flavour and mark the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women. Which, by the way, doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue, so you may not want to put that in full on your flyers. But, be warned, it is cold in November, so you may want to hold your march in midsummer, or even relocate your protest to the South of France. Once you have set your date, and double-checked that it doesn’t clash with the national RTN in England’s capital (London), you need to plan a route. It is good if the route can take in some public toilets. And, on a more serious note, it needs to end somewhere that women can get home safely from, as that’s the whole point of the march after all – women’s safety. So don’t end it somewhere out in the sticks where there is no public transport, otherwise you will have to fork out for mini-buses etc. If you live in the sticks this will be a problem. Fundraise for mini-buses. As women don’t get many chances to have the streets of their town or city closed down for their issues to be heard, you may as well pick a really central route. Aim high, go right for your town centre. Then you need to go and meet your friendly local police force (or agents of the state, depending on your political proclivities) who are there to facilitate your right to peaceful protest. Because we live in a democracy, remember? It is good to send the least anarchisty members of your group to meet the police, and don’t call them ‘filth’ or ‘pigs’, at least not to their faces. The police that is. Give the police plenty of warning about your intentions; they will need to plan road closures and they may change your route slightly. Be flexible, but don’t be pushed into side roads. It’s polite to go to the police to ask for something called ‘permission’ to hold your protest, but really you just go and tell them what you are going to do. I’d let them know at least six months in advance. Yes, I can hear you saying: ‘but that’s nearly as long as it takes to grow a baby human’ and you are right of course, but organising a RTN march is just about as difficult (can you tell I’ve never given birth?). In fact, here in London for the national march, we work on it all year (marching that is, not giving birth). Now you have a route and police permission, you need to get publicity done and start snooping about for formal supporters. Unless you own your own printing press, publicity will require money. Usually you can get 1000 flyers done for between £50 and £70, and if you put the word out, you will usually find someone who knows a good printing firm. There are also good online ones that usually do next-day delivery. We all dream about finding the 296 How to organise a Reclaim the Night march women’s collective printing firm, so we can feel worthy about getting our fly- ers done there, but it ain’t the 1970s any more sister, so don’t worry if you can’t find such a thing. Ask local activist groups who they use. Get flyers done as soon as possible, however you can. But – remember that it’s good to have your supporters listed on the flyer, the bigger the organisations the better. So, you have a balancing act here – between getting your flyer done ASAP, and waiting to hear about formal support from large local organisa- tions. This is especially tricky if your group is not known to the mainstream political scene in your area. Big organisations like trade unions are going to be wary of taking a risk on you if they don’t know you from Eve. This is because you are a liability until they know you. If they formally support your march and then you walk through your town centre smashing the windows of McShite ‘restaurants’ and supergluing the locks of porn shops (though you and I may well consider this good, clean family fun), they could get into trou- ble, and would be likely never to support you again. So, approach smaller groups first, build up a base and then go to bigger groups with this proof that people trust you enough to put their name under your event. Offer to speak at meetings to show them that feminists are normal people, or at least, can be when they want support from large organisations. Don’t forget that it’s actu- ally quite a big deal for a group to support you, so pat yourself on the back every time you get a new supporter, and don’t be disheartened if you don’t get big groups coming on board right at the beginning. These things take time. Back to the flyers. I know it sounds obvious, but make sure you have the date, time and assembly location on your flyer. And a catchy piece of artwork too if you can get one.
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