As part of the United Nations 16Days of Activism against gender based violence and domestic abuse, this year’s Silent March was bigger than ever.
Past, Present and Future members of SI Canterbury were joined by our Regional President, members of SI Folkestone, SI Tunbridge Wells, SI Whitstable & District, SI Bromley, SI East Grinstead, East Kent Federation of Women’s Institutes, The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Maya’s Community Support Centre, Catching Lives, The Westgate Hall, Canterbury Diocese Mothers’ Union, Canterbury Welcomes Refugees, Canterbury City Council, The Rising Sun, The Women’s Equality Party, Rev. Wendy Dalrympol, men, women and children.
We marched in solidarity with women all across the globe against violence towards women and girls.
Something profound
Something profound happened in Canterbury on the morning of Saturday, November 30th, 2024.
A dry, mild day it was for early Christmas shoppers. And thankfully for the homeless people camped out in doorways too. But in the Butter market, the cobblestone space in front of the cathedral gate, and under the blue statue of Jesus, people were coming together. Women and men, wearing orange coats, or scarves or hats. Some women held orange placards, others carried banners. Even the dogs they brought with them wore orange ribbons on their collars. People arrived in ones, twos and small groups. They didn’t look sad but they looked serious. They were going to walk.
The caped figure of Revd. Wendy Dalrymple, precentor of the cathedral then came forward and spoke to them all. She spoke for some minutes, reminding the people gathered of the terrible fact that every ten minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member.
Every ten minutes.
In the home, where a woman should feel most safe, she is not safe.
Every ten minutes.
To bear witness to that statistic, and to give an expression for those who cannot, she encouraged everyone, every sort of woman, to walk together silently through the streets of Canterbury. And so, the people wearing orange did walk, slowly, silently through the Saturday crowds, past the shop windows, and the displays, and the theatre and the pubs. The Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Jean Butcher walked with them. And the Lady Mayoress, Diane Baldock walked too. The Soroptimist Region President, Sue Edgar walked as well.
All thinking about that statistic.
Every ten minutes.
And after the solemn, silent walk, the procession returned to the Butter market. And because the people dressed in orange had been able to march without incident, with no catcalls, nothing shouted or thrown at them, no interruptions, because they were safe and all together, it was time for joy.
And with capes and scarves flying, with placards still held high, the group took a carousel ride in the cathedral yard. The seriousness changed to delight and gratitude. That they had walked and were all still here together, without fear, unharmed.
Tessa Woodward (SI Canterbury)