Tuesday 07-06-2016 - 13:13

Recently as a union we had the absolute privilege and honour of working together to host Reclaim the Night, the first of it’s kind in Carmarthen.

Reclaim the Night was originally established in 1977, by feminists who wanted to respond to the murders conducted by the Yorkshire Ripper. The police response at the time was to advise women not to go out at night alone, in order to keep them safe. However, the march rose up in response to this, since no woman should feel she needs to stay at home in order to be safe.

Since then it’s become a tradition for different groups of people to march the streets and demand safety back for women walking alone at night. Here at TSDSU we wanted to open the parameters and demand the safety of all women, men and children on the streets. So we invited all students to join the march regardless of gender, because at TSDSU we’re passionate about the safety and inclusivity of everyone and how we can break down barriers to make the streets safer for students across the gender spectrum, including those who are non-binary and those of the LGBT+ community. Reclaim the Night was a chance for us all to stand as one and combat violence against people. 

 

The Deputy President of NUS Wales, Ebbie Ferguson attended the event, and gave an inspiring talk about the history of the event, the power of the student movement and the importance of coming together with the community to face street safety head on.

Ebbie assisted with leading the march, and led the students in chanting. Prior to the start of the event students in Lampeter and Carmarthen gathered on their respective campuses to create placards to hold during the march.

 

It was amazing to see the support of the Carmarthen town during the march. Local residents joined in the chants, beeped their support while driving by, and took photos. All in all the march was an incredibly positive experience, it was incredible to see students from across our two campuses coming together to support such an important cause. The student involvement was the highlight of this event for us, from the hard work and dedication of our part time Women’s Officer in Carmarthen, Jasmine Crane, to the captain of the Lacrosse team Shayne Prior rallying members of his team to join the march.

We finished the march in the Students’ Union with Dominos, who were kind enough to sponsor our event. The police who were supporting our event even came inside for some pizza, and to talk to students about how wonderful it was to see such great engagement in town safety.

A massive thank you to everyone who took part in this event!

 

                       

Bea Fallon                              Gwyneth Sweatman

Lampeter President                 Carmarthen Vice President