Read on Twitter
Peter Sutcliffe was not the reason Reclaim the Night marches began in Leeds in 1977, but his crimes meant that this form of activism resonated with large numbers of women. Rape Crisis had formed in London in 1976. Feminists here were inspired by news from W Germany April '77 of..
...Feminists here were inspired by news of synchronized Take Back the Night marches across West Germany in April ‘77. This was covered in Spare Rib (Issue 61). Thanks to German speakers who translated it from the magazine Courage (I think Amanda Sebestyen at Spare Rib)...
The crime of rape was the focus of Women’s Liberation Conferences & had been in the news following direct action against the appalling sentencing of a guardsman called Tom Holdsworth in Summer ‘77. There was also the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in '76...
The W German marches were covered in WIRES newsletter, where editors suggested women in Britain should do the same. A short time later the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group called synchronised RtN marches for 12th Nov ‘77 & this famous street protest for women grew from there.
In America the marches are known as ‘Take Back The Night’ and the first formal march with this title was held in San Francisco in 1978. Reportedly, the first ever ‘Reclaim The Night’ march with that title was held in Rome in 1976 to protest against a rise in reported rapes.
Here's a pic of the West German marches, April '77
Here's a pic of the coverage of those in the feminist magazine Courage, which was read by feminists in the international news dept. at Spare Rib magazine!
Here's an advert in WIRES newsletter, Women's Information Referral and Enquiry Service...the LRFG set up the Reclaim the Night Group in Leeds
Here's a call out for the march, asking all towns and cities to take part, in the end over about 12 did so, it was then on the front cover of Spare Rib in the first issue of 1978.
The march got a wee listing in Spare Rib...
Legendary women like Al Garthwaite founded the Reclaim the Night here, & she still lives & works in Leeds. Feminist activists like Sandra MacNeill also point out that an Edinburgh conference on Revolutionary Feminism in July '77 ended with a night time march against male VAWG.
Here's the cover of Spare Rib, January 1978
And Al has just reminded me that yesterday was the 43rd anniversary of Reclaim the Night.
