Reclaim the Night Southampton: Women march for safer streets

Organisers of the Reclaim the Night march in Southampton said the event was trans-inclusive

Women marched through a city centre's parks on Wednesday to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.

Taking place on International Women's Day, the Reclaim the Night event was aimed at empowering those who feel vulnerable or scared walking in the dark.

Arranged by Solent Students' Union, residents and students set off at 19:00 GMT from the Solent University campus.

Steph Stangroom, one of the organisers, said: "Enough is enough."

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "Gender-based violence is still happening; it didn't stop in the 1970s."

Ms Stangroom said that when she was about 20, she was assaulted by a taxi driver "just on my way home after a night out".

"Now, in Southampton, we have CCTV in every single taxi cab, so change can happen, we just have to make people aware of what's happening," she added.

A report by Crimestoppers in January found nearly a quarter (23%) of women in the UK had witnessed flashing or indecent exposure incidents, while more than a third (38%) had been followed.

Solent student Roxanne Bennett said she was too scared to walk through the parks in the dark

Solent University student Roxanne Bennett said she felt she had to change her behaviour in order to minimise risk.

She explained: "I know what you're wearing shouldn't matter but I'm always conscious I don't wear anything too revealing, just in case it might be labelled as my fault if something happened.

"I always avoid the parks. It takes me longer to walk home but I won't walk through the parks in the dark, I'm just too scared to do it."

The city council announced in 2022 that it would make the issue a major priority over the coming five years.

It said it would focus on prevention, working with boys in schools and men in adult classes, supporting survivors of domestic abuse, changing the behaviour of perpetrators and creating a stronger coordinated response to violence against women and girls.