The organiser of a rally against sexual violence in Wellington tonight says she and other women are sick of “consistently feeling unsafe” on the streets at night.
The rate of sexual violence in the region has increased by almost 50 per cent in the last five years, with inner city Wellington seeing the highest proportion of assault crimes in the country.
The organiser of tonight's Let Us Live rally Jahla Lawrence told Breakfast she believes it's "the experience of every young woman or female-presenting person that they consistently feel unsafe walking through our streets any time after dark".
“It’s not necessarily a nameable, obvious thing that they can point to and say, ‘This is what’s making me unsafe’. It’s the feeling that’s created by the culture around the street from the way that the streets are laid out, to the lighting, to the billboards and to the people on them as well.”
Wellington City councillor Tamatha Paul told Breakfast there are “those things that you do almost unconsciously” – including walking with keys in their hands and parking close to where they’re going – to “almost shrink ourselves” which has become a “uniting experienced” for many women.
“We’ve realised that it’s not actually an OK way to live, to be constantly in fear that we’re going to be attacked for nothing,” she said.
It follows a survey conducted by two women last week gauging safety in the capital which became inundated with reports of sexual harassment and assault.
Paul said it was “amazing to see” a pair of young students “come together and do something” after realising that “this is already such a problem”.
“I think that really inspired us as leaders in the community to actually say, ‘Yeah, we have a responsibility to uphold these wahine and to uphold our communities and actually bring this issue the attention that it needs and deserves.'
“Although it’s been an issue for a long time now … we’ve got to that point we’re not willing to accept feeling unsafe in our own city anymore and we need every decision-maker, any person who has responsibility for Wellington to come to the table and to find constructive, restorative processes in order to address this issue.”
Lawrence said there is an “energy amongst people” of feeling “completely done with the status quo, fed up of accepting this constant state of fear, of the constant lack of attention and commitment from people in positions of power.
“They’re ready for something to change. They’re all ready to be out there, to be rallying, to be petitioning, to be filling in surveys – anything that they can do to make a difference.”
She said tonight’s rally will be held at Te Aro Park in order to restore the mana of the space and “to feel safe, to feel a part of a community and to feel valued without being in fear”.
Paul hopes tonight’s rally will “bring people together and just show how much power we have as a community”.
“What we want to do is bring all of these voices into one space behind a set of asks in Courtenay Place at 6 ‘o clock and say, ‘Look at everyone here who’s standing up for this issue rain or shine, saying that we care about it, we demand change.
“We’re not accepting this and this is not something people feel individually, in isolation ... We’re much, much stronger together.”
The rally will be held on the corner of Courtenay Place and Taranaki Street at 6pm.
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