Reclaim the Night event to highlight women's safety

An event to empower women and girls to stand up for safer public spaces after dark is being held in Huddersfield this weekend.

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin will host the free event in Greenhead Park between 14:00 and 17:00 GMT on Sunday.

Held on the day the clocks go back and the nights draw in, there will be guest speakers, stalls and a group walk around the park.

The event has been organised in collaboration with Al Garthwaite, last year’s Lord Mayor of Leeds, who played a pivotal role in the first Reclaim the Night marches in the city back in 1977.

Since her election as mayor in 2021, Brabin has made the safety of women and girls one of her top priorities - launching what is believed to be the country’s first dedicated Women’s Safety Unit earlier this year.

She said: "I want West Yorkshire to be a safer, fairer place for all our women and girls.

“It is unacceptable that so many of them are forced into changing their normal routines as the nights become longer."

She added it would be an "empowering, uplifting and inclusive event" where people can renew their commitments to building a future free from violence against women and girls."

Reclaim the Night marches began in Leeds to highlight the growing danger to women after dark and partly in response to a string of murders in West Yorkshire and Manchester, carried out by serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.

Al Garthwaite said: "It's nearly 50 years since we first took to the streets to Reclaim The Night for women and girls, asserting our right to go out without fear.

"The need sadly remains today, so I really welcome Mayor Brabin's event at Greenhead Park, where once more I shall be striding out to Reclaim The Night."

The event will have people on hand from community support services in the local area, including Kirklees Night Safety Bus, Women of West Yorkshire, Safer Kirklees and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Policing and Crime Team.

The Friends of Greenhead Park will also be supporting the event.

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