Thousands expected to turn out for London event
WOMEN from Birmingham will join thousands from across the UK to take to the streets of London next month to demand an end to all forms of violence against women.
The March and rally, which is being led by the Million Women Rise Coalition on 7 March, will call on all political parties to unite in developing a fully resourced national strategy to combat violence against women.
Next month’s event comes a year after the Million Women Rise Coalition organized its first march which attracted over 5,000 women to the capital.
Sabrina Qureshi, the Million Women Rise Coalition’s National Coordinator said: “As long as women and children experience rape, sexual and domestic violence, we will protest. As long as women and girls are forced into marriage and suffer female genital mutilation, and are abused and murdered because of some perverse idea of what constitutes “honour”, we will not stay quiet. We will shout from the rooftops that every woman has a right to live her life free from the threat of gender based violence. We will fight for that right to be heard, upheld and respected.”
One woman who attended last years march said she fully supported the event following the murder of her sister.
“”My sister was killed by her ex husband last year after years of abuse. I have never been on a march before in my life but I am here because of what happened to her. It has to stop. My sister is dead but I have to do something to stop it happening to anyone else. Why isn’t anyone listening?”
One woman in four will experience domestic violence at some point in her life, according to statistics from Amnesty International.
Further details can be found at www.millionwomenrise.com
