MILLION WOMEN RISE
*A UK-wide Black women led collective of women resisting men’s violence
SAT 5 MARCH: MARCH TO NEW SCOTLAND YARD - AGAINST MEN’S VIOLENCE, AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE
Black women led march from Charing Cross Police Station to the steps of the UK’s biggest police force at New Scotland Yard denouncing persistent racism, misogyny and demanding radical change
What: March against men’s violence against women, police violence, racism and misogyny
When: Saturday 5 March, 12.30pm - 4.30pm (ahead of International Women’s Day, 8 March)
Where: From 12.30pm at Charing Cross police station (Agar ST, WC2), we will march to New Scotland Yard (Victoria Embankment, SW1),where we will hold a rally and speeches from 2.30pm
Access Bus: An access bus will be available throughout.
This Saturday, women will march through central London, starting at the disgraced Charing Cross Police Station (1) and ending with a rally outside the entrance of New Scotland Yard, the Headquarters of the UK’s biggest police force.
Coaches full of women from around the country are expected to attend and demand accountability from a policing system that is utterly failing women, Black and Global Majority communities.
Founding Co ordinator Sabrina Qureshi for Million Women Rise said:
“ENOUGH is ENOUGH! We have had ENOUGH!”
“Violence against women is widespread in our society, yet none of our political leaders are willing to truly take this on. Structural and everyday racism mean Black women and children are not believed or protected when we need help. How many more women and girls have to be harmed, raped and murdered before it is recognised as the crisis that it is?
“Too often the police response is to ridicule our suffering, as we know from what has been exposed over the last two years. We have an immigration system, and a police force, that are not only structurally flawed they also aid and abet perpetrators of violence by discrediting individual survivors.
“We need change. From the disproportionate number of police officers who are offenders against women, to the clear back-slapping culture of hate, evidenced from the locker room to social media. ENOUGH! We demand accountability. We demand a total overhaul and rethink of what and who the police are for.
“Patriarchy and the incessant greed of capitalism are undeniably one of the links between the rape of women and the rape of the earth. The constant minimising of violence against women as well as the lipservice being paid to tackling deep structures of racism, are echoed well beyond policing and indeed across our planet. It is the same entitlement, greed and determination to hold power and control that starts wars, makes nuclear threats, destroys land and depletes our natural resources. These are the same systems and structures that create famine, poverty and deprivation, economic injustice and vaccine inequity, whilst overseeing a politics that can barely grapple with the climate emergency created by countries like the UK.
We say, “ENOUGH! A different kind of world IS possible.”
The march and rally are organised by Million Women Rise (2), a collective led by Black women, where all women are invited to take part. Million Women Rise focuses on Black women and girls because murders and assaults on Black women and girls are less reported on and have worse justice outcomes.
The march is coming to ‘the police frontdoor’ in a period when police officers have been exposed as featuring significantly among those harming and killing women – including:
*failing to respond to distressed family calls about missing Black sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, whose bodies police officers at the scene later grossly dishonoured (3);
*the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer (4);
*a staggering number of IOPC investigations into police officers for abusing their position for a sexual purpose making this the single largest form of police corruption (5);
*a collapse in women’s trust in the police as revealed in a recent YouGov survey: 47% of women report declining trust in the police (6); and
*recent research which shows how Black and minority ethnic women are persistently discriminated against when they disclose and report abuse to the police and other authorities, and experience poorer justice outcomes than white women (7).
Sabrina Qureshi added:
“There is racism, misogyny, ableism and homophobia in the ranks and it is clear that it is tolerated. Whole sections of our communities know that we cannot rely on the police if we need to report domestic or sexual violence.
“There are racist attitudes among police officers which mean that Black women are not afforded the protection from police which we have a right to.
“We see no real or heartfelt commitment to change from the Police. We are glad Cressida Dick has gone, but she was no worse than any of her male predecessors. Priti Patel is now saying ENOUGH in her campaign around violence against women, while she continues to preside over a racist, misogynistic, hateful (hate-FULL) system. This is sheer hypocrisy! She is saying ENOUGH while actively seeking to strengthen police powers and to further oppress marginalised communities.”
“We say: Nothing About Us Without Us. Black women in solidarity with others who are marginalised in this society, must be at the centre of the appointment process for a new police commissioner, and our communities must be consulted throughout. Without true community accountability, the police force that we are paying for serves itself and not us.
“By and for women’s organisations including those led by Black and disabled women, should be funded sustainably. The pandemic has compounded the situation for organisations which were already on a shoe-string budget. This has meant more barriers to access, leaving women at greater risk. This is unacceptable! We pride ourselves on being a ‘civilised’ country that cares about human rights. Yet the ways that we respond to violence against women, especially the women that are most marginalised in our society, is abhorrent.
“We have a right to and we demand a meaningful, good faith, listening engagement with senior police leaders and those that are accountable in London’s City Hall and the Home Office. Nothing About Us Without Us!”
Notes:
*A UK-wide Black women led collective of women resisting men’s violence
SAT 5 MARCH: MARCH TO NEW SCOTLAND YARD - AGAINST MEN’S VIOLENCE, AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE
Black women led march from Charing Cross Police Station to the steps of the UK’s biggest police force at New Scotland Yard denouncing persistent racism, misogyny and demanding radical change
What: March against men’s violence against women, police violence, racism and misogyny
When: Saturday 5 March, 12.30pm - 4.30pm (ahead of International Women’s Day, 8 March)
Where: From 12.30pm at Charing Cross police station (Agar ST, WC2), we will march to New Scotland Yard (Victoria Embankment, SW1),where we will hold a rally and speeches from 2.30pm
Access Bus: An access bus will be available throughout.
This Saturday, women will march through central London, starting at the disgraced Charing Cross Police Station (1) and ending with a rally outside the entrance of New Scotland Yard, the Headquarters of the UK’s biggest police force.
Coaches full of women from around the country are expected to attend and demand accountability from a policing system that is utterly failing women, Black and Global Majority communities.
Founding Co ordinator Sabrina Qureshi for Million Women Rise said:
“ENOUGH is ENOUGH! We have had ENOUGH!”
“Violence against women is widespread in our society, yet none of our political leaders are willing to truly take this on. Structural and everyday racism mean Black women and children are not believed or protected when we need help. How many more women and girls have to be harmed, raped and murdered before it is recognised as the crisis that it is?
“Too often the police response is to ridicule our suffering, as we know from what has been exposed over the last two years. We have an immigration system, and a police force, that are not only structurally flawed they also aid and abet perpetrators of violence by discrediting individual survivors.
“We need change. From the disproportionate number of police officers who are offenders against women, to the clear back-slapping culture of hate, evidenced from the locker room to social media. ENOUGH! We demand accountability. We demand a total overhaul and rethink of what and who the police are for.
“Patriarchy and the incessant greed of capitalism are undeniably one of the links between the rape of women and the rape of the earth. The constant minimising of violence against women as well as the lipservice being paid to tackling deep structures of racism, are echoed well beyond policing and indeed across our planet. It is the same entitlement, greed and determination to hold power and control that starts wars, makes nuclear threats, destroys land and depletes our natural resources. These are the same systems and structures that create famine, poverty and deprivation, economic injustice and vaccine inequity, whilst overseeing a politics that can barely grapple with the climate emergency created by countries like the UK.
We say, “ENOUGH! A different kind of world IS possible.”
The march and rally are organised by Million Women Rise (2), a collective led by Black women, where all women are invited to take part. Million Women Rise focuses on Black women and girls because murders and assaults on Black women and girls are less reported on and have worse justice outcomes.
The march is coming to ‘the police frontdoor’ in a period when police officers have been exposed as featuring significantly among those harming and killing women – including:
*failing to respond to distressed family calls about missing Black sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, whose bodies police officers at the scene later grossly dishonoured (3);
*the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer (4);
*a staggering number of IOPC investigations into police officers for abusing their position for a sexual purpose making this the single largest form of police corruption (5);
*a collapse in women’s trust in the police as revealed in a recent YouGov survey: 47% of women report declining trust in the police (6); and
*recent research which shows how Black and minority ethnic women are persistently discriminated against when they disclose and report abuse to the police and other authorities, and experience poorer justice outcomes than white women (7).
Sabrina Qureshi added:
“There is racism, misogyny, ableism and homophobia in the ranks and it is clear that it is tolerated. Whole sections of our communities know that we cannot rely on the police if we need to report domestic or sexual violence.
“There are racist attitudes among police officers which mean that Black women are not afforded the protection from police which we have a right to.
“We see no real or heartfelt commitment to change from the Police. We are glad Cressida Dick has gone, but she was no worse than any of her male predecessors. Priti Patel is now saying ENOUGH in her campaign around violence against women, while she continues to preside over a racist, misogynistic, hateful (hate-FULL) system. This is sheer hypocrisy! She is saying ENOUGH while actively seeking to strengthen police powers and to further oppress marginalised communities.”
“We say: Nothing About Us Without Us. Black women in solidarity with others who are marginalised in this society, must be at the centre of the appointment process for a new police commissioner, and our communities must be consulted throughout. Without true community accountability, the police force that we are paying for serves itself and not us.
“By and for women’s organisations including those led by Black and disabled women, should be funded sustainably. The pandemic has compounded the situation for organisations which were already on a shoe-string budget. This has meant more barriers to access, leaving women at greater risk. This is unacceptable! We pride ourselves on being a ‘civilised’ country that cares about human rights. Yet the ways that we respond to violence against women, especially the women that are most marginalised in our society, is abhorrent.
“We have a right to and we demand a meaningful, good faith, listening engagement with senior police leaders and those that are accountable in London’s City Hall and the Home Office. Nothing About Us Without Us!”
Notes:
- In February the IOPC issued a damning report on Metropolitan Police culture, setting out gross examples of routine misogyny and racism and a total failure of police leadership to address this.
- Million Women Rise is organised and led by Black women who are at the intersection of structural racism and patriarchy, and whose perspective is critical for first understanding the particular experiences of Black women in relation to violence and abuse (failures to protect, to prevent and to deliver justice), and for creating the radical changes needed to eradicate racist misogyny.
- Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were murdered in August 2020; the police ignored family appeals to search for them urgently, and two police officers at the murder scene then grossly dishonoured the sisters’ dead bodies
- Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by serving police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021, who was later revealed to be under investigation for sexual offences (indecent exposure) and as ebing widely understood by colleagues as having deeply misogynistic attitudes. Police initially told women in the local area to stay home while the search for the murderer was under way. A vigil for Sarah was accompanied by police violence against the women commemorating her.
- IOPC investigations this year have revealed systemic racism and sexism throughout the country’s police forces, with 15 police officers known to have killed women since 2009 and a staggering 750 facing sexual misconduct allegations since 2010. The catalogue of police offending against women is set out by the EVAW Coalition here.
- A recent YouGov survey commissioned by the EVAW Coalition revealed that almost half of UK women feel their trust in the police has decreased following these events this year
