A nationwide campaign called Reclaim the Night will be launched tonight against rape.
After the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in a medical college in Kolkata, protests are increasing across the country. In several states, including Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, doctors have taken to the streets for their safety. The incident took place at a time when the country was preparing to celebrate its independence. Now on the occasion of August 15, women will protest together at midnight and demand their freedom and protection.
The demonstration will begin after midnight on Wednesday. Women from all over the country will participate in the demonstration. The protest has been named Reclaim the Night. Before 12 midnight in Kolkata, women will hit the streets and protest in many parts of the country. After all, who talked about starting a protest with this name?
Demonstration campaign on social media
After the Kolkata incident, many women doctors and people protested against this horrific incident through social media and other platforms. One of them is Ramjham Sinha, who completed her graduation from Presidency University 4 years ago (year 2020) and is currently doing research. After this incident, they adopted the name Reclaim the Night for their first performance. The demonstration has now spread from the streets of Kolkata to many states across the country.
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This is not the first incident of people taking to the streets and protesting in the name of Reclaim the Night for the protection and freedom of women. Even before this, there have been movements around the world with this name. Significantly, the protest called Reclaim the Night started in a developed country. Gradually the word came into discussion and it became a great voice of protest against women.
Thus British women got inspiration
Start the night again like this. On April 30, 1977, women in Germany took to the streets against growing sexual harassment in the country and called their protest ‘Take Back the Night’. Inspired by this, women in Britain decided to form their own ‘Reclaim the Night’ march to protest. Reclaim the Night began in 1977 in 11 cities in response to the murder of the “Ripper” in Leeds, UK.
The “Ripper” murders include those committed by serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, dubbed the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ by the media. Peter sexually assaulted and brutally murdered 13 women in Yorkshire between 1975 and 1980. The women here were angry that the police showed laziness in the killings and did not take any strict action. The media also did not give much importance to these murders in their newspapers. The main reason behind this is believed to be that most of these women were sex workers and were murdered.
Anger erupted after the student’s murder
However, this killing shook the country. When a student was killed, the media and the police paid more attention to the incident. However, after that, the police asked women not to go out at night. In a way, a ‘curfew’ was imposed on women. This ‘curfew’ was frustrating for women, especially those who worked late or night shifts, or who worked as sex workers, and were not allowed to go out at night.
This angered feminists and various student and women’s groups. His anger continued to flare due to the series of murders. Meanwhile, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group planned demonstrations across Britain on the night of 12 November 1977 against rape and for women’s right to walk the night without fear, and large numbers of women joined. Invited.
Advertisements placed in the newspaper for the campaign
For this, advertisements were also given in national level newspapers. Propaganda was also carried out in women’s groups. That night, hundreds of women took to the streets in their cities and demonstrated with burning torches. Meanwhile, women raised the issue that they should be allowed to walk anywhere. Men should not be blamed or banned for their violence. During the demonstration women also raised the slogan ‘No curfew on women – curfew on men’.
After Britain, there were demonstrations in America and Australia.
Following the success of Reclaim the Night in the UK, a similar demonstration was held in the US in the same year. More than 5,000 women from 30 US states demonstrated in San Francisco’s Red Light District. This campaign also started in Australia. The first Race Claim the Night March was held in Sydney and Perth. The first Melbourne march was held in 1979.
A similar demonstration was also held in India in 2012 when the Nirbhaya case in December rocked the entire country. Large-scale demonstrations were held in every corner of the country regarding the protection of women. After the incidents of rape in the country, there have been large-scale protests by women regarding their protection. The Kolkata incident has reminded us of the Nirbhaya incident, there is outrage in the country and people are taking to the streets demanding the safety and freedom of women.
