Around 500 people have taken to the streets of Belfast, calling for action to make the city a safer place for all.
The Walkie Talkie Girlies Society marched from Queen’s University to City Hall in the city centre, where the building was lit up in the group’s adopted colour of pink to welcome them.
Leading the march, Aisling Cannon (20) said she was overwhelmed at how quickly the student-led campaign was gathering pace.
Imogen Davis-Pugh, Meabh Whitty and Caitlin Devlin, all students at Queen’s University, who were among the 500 people marching through Belfast city centre to highlight the dangers faced by women
“This started out as a few friends wanting to do something to make the streets of Belfast safer. I can’t believe we’ve already reached the stage were almost 500 people want to come out and show their support,” the Queen’s student said.
“This isn’t just about making Belfast a safer place for women and girls.
“This is about making Belfast safer for everyone. When women and girls feel safe, everyone will feel safe.”
Among those out supporting the march was Imogen Davis-Pugh. She said the numbers gathering in the city centre showed the depth of feeling that exists after a number of recent incidents in which women were the victims of physical and sexual violence.
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“We wanted to be involved as something needs to be done to try to make things better,” she said.
“The more people who join in, the less likely it is our concerns are going to be ignored.
“You can see by the number of people out here that the feeling is growing that something has to be done to make the streets safer. If we have a big enough voice we have to be heard and we all need to stick together on this.”
With City Hall lit up pink to support the group’s march, Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray lent his voice to those taking to the streets.
“Belfast used to be a no-go area in the past for a completely different reason,” he said.
“I wanted to show that we support the girls in the message they are delivering tonight. There should be no no-go areas in Belfast. We just have to look at what has happened in our own city over these past number of months to know that something has to change.
“There’s no point having strategies if we are not educating people and that starts in local communities and in schools. We need to empower communities to bring an end to violence against women and young girls and to make our streets the safe place we want them to be.”
City Hall is lit up pink to support the Walkie Talkie Girlies group as they marched through Belfast on Wednesday night calling for action to protect women and girls on the streets of Belfast
Another major parade is planned for Londonderry later this week when hundreds more are expected to call for urgent action to ensure people feel safe walking the streets across the whole of Northern Ireland. “There is momentum behind us now,” Aisling added.
“We have to keep on pressing home the message. We want our streets to be somewhere we all feel safe and we will keep on making our voices heard.”
A Rally for Women’s Safety will be held in Guildhall Square, Derry on Friday at 6.15pm.
News Catch Up – Wednesday 6 November