Women's march against domestic violence held in Manchester

Tens of women gathered together in Manchester to march in order to commemorate the women killed as a result of domestic violence in the last year.

The event, called Dead Women Walking, was held in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens on Sunday, November 26, where women, including survivors of domestic abuse, walked around the city dressed in red while reading out the names and stories of the women killed by men throughout the year.

Women walking in Manchester as part of the Dead Women Walking march, an event organised to raise awareness of domestic violence in the UK (Photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

The Dead Women Walking March was organised by Claire Moore, the director of Preston-based theatre company Certain Curtain.

Moore, a veteran in expressing the magnitude of domestic violence through her plays since 1995 when she received a commission to create a play based on abuse against women, organised this event to remember the women killed each year in the UK as a result of domestic abuse.

“It turned into an obsession because once you look into the impact that domestic violence has on our society, you realise what a massive issue it is and how, if you can help people understand that and change people’s attitudes and beliefs towards it, you can actually make an impact on how we help people that are experiencing it and improve services, so we got pretty obsessed with it from that,” says Moore.

Claire Moore, director and creator of Certain Curtain Theatre, delivering a speech at the beginning of the march in Piccadilly Gardens (Photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

Her activism against domestic violence over the years has shaped her career, as she continued to put on stage plays about this issue, for which she received praise from communities.

“They [Certain Curtain Theatre] deliver such a key service in terms of raising awareness, they plays that they’ve produced over the years, particularly The Woman in Red, this has been seen in so many schools, and it’s helped so many lives quite frankly! They’ve done this for so long, they’re unsung heroes actually in the world of domestic abuse, people don’t realise how much Claire has done over the years,” says Dianna Broadmeadow, who has worked with Moore previously on different projects.

Statistics show that over 100 women were murdered by men between January and September 2017, which means every 2-3 days, a woman dies due to domestic abuse.

In addition to this, data collected by ONS also shows that one in four women have experienced domestic abuse at some point in their lives and that at least one in five women aged between 16-59 has experienced some form of sexual violence.

 “People don’t realise the staggering number of women killed and this is just for women who were killed by a partner or ex-partner, this is not counting strangers who murder women, or people who they know from work or something,” said Shauna Devlin, one of the participants of the march.

When asked to explain the reasoning behind this movement and their decision to take part, the majority of women said they believe that this campaign is a big step towards raising awareness of the magnitude of this issue and that by joining the march, they are making a positive change in society’s view on this issue that will benefit future female generations.

“I’ve worked in Women’s Aid for nearly 20 years and for me, women are still dying as many, if not more, for when I first started working there and I feel like we need to do more as a society to stop that. While there’s 105 women that were killed, for all those women there’s somebody mom, somebody’s daughter, there’s somebody else involved in this, for one person who dies, it’s almost like a domino effect, that it affects so many more people. And one man causes that for that family and that’s sad for me,” adds Maria Johnson of Women’s Aid.

Participants of the march in Manchester Piccadilly Garden, having a moment of silence for the women killed due to domestic violence in 2017 (Photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

“If I could tell survivors something, I’d tell them to be proud and to keep moving forward because one of the biggest things for women actually is, when they left abusive relationships, people think they’re okay and that they’re out of the woods, but actually they’re not. 

"Quite often they come out of those relationships and they’re just as much, they’ve got loads of other issues, including mental health issues, dealing with homelessness, dealing with PTSD, issues with contact, a whole host of different things that they’re all dealing with. 

And it’s not just women who are fighting for this cause. Preston-based charity Men Against Violence is also among the leader organisations in the North West set out to help women across the country who are dealing with these issues, as well as educate people and raise awareness of domestic violence.

“I am shocked and overwhelmed by the magnitude of this issue, but I firmly believe it can be stopped and that it’s not inevitable” says Christopher Flux, Campaign Director for Men Against Violence.

Placard for the Dead Women Walking march (Photo credit: Andreea Dulgheru)

“I’d advise people to look at their own skill set and sphere of influence and go from there. If you’re a bit of a daredevil, then do a sponsored parachute jump to raise funds for a women’s refuge. If you are a male youth worker, then set an example to young men of how to treat women. If you are a parent of girls, encourage them to be confident, strong and see themselves as equal to men & boys.”

Women who find themselves in this situation are encouraged to contact the freephone 24 hours National Domestic Violence Helpline at 0808 2000 247 or email helpline@womensaid.og.uk.