Just wanted to let you all know about RTN Leeds this year. Press release follows. Hope to see some mumsnetters there 
On Saturday 3rd December 2011, Leeds? women will be taking to the streets for this year?s Reclaim the Night Leeds march through Leeds city centre to assert their right to feel free from the fear of rape and male violence in any form.
Reclaim the Night Leeds will begin on Saturday 3rd December with a free drop in from 3-5pm at arts@trinity (on Boar Lane) open to all women and girls. This will cover healthy relationships and staying safe, and will be run by Women?s Health Matters, who deliver domestic violence support and educational work across Leeds.
From 5.30pm, women will gather outside Leeds Art Gallery and at 6.30pm women will begin the march around Leeds City Centre; the last stage of the march will be open to all. Supporters are invited to meet the women marchers at the bottom end of Briggate (near Marks and Spencer?s) for approx 7pm to continue the walk around the city centre. From 7.30pm there will be a reception at arts@trinity on Boar Lane with speakers, refreshments and representation from many local groups.
Reclaim the Night also aims to highlight the low conviction rate for rape here in West Yorkshire, which recent research estimated at around 8% . According to the British Crime Survey (2001) there are an estimated 47,000 rapes nationally every year, around 40,000 attempted rapes and over 300,000 sexual assaults. Yet the UK?s conviction rate is the lowest it has ever been, one of the lowest in Europe, at only 5.3%. Reclaim the Night campaigners march to send the message that this has to change.
Kathryn Smoraczewska, a member of the Reclaim the Night planning group, said ?Women confront every day the risk or reality of sexual objectification, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. If this threat restricts our freedom, for example by making us afraid to use public highways, then we cannot claim to live in an equal society. Article Three of the UN?s Universal Declaration of Human Rights covers the right to liberty and security of person for all. Reclaim the Night is a vital medium for women to assert these rights.?
Rosie Robinson Boardman, a member of the Reclaim the Night Leeds planning group, said: ?With the recent statement from a top UN official that that more than a third of all women in the world have been forced into sex, beaten or abused by a partner or family member and the recent news that UK sex offences are the only offences to have increased in the year until June 20103, added to the existing fact that only 1 in 20 reported rapes results in a conviction , we are reclaiming the streets of Leeds. We do not believe 19 out of 20 women are lying, we do not believe the system is working and we can already see that women will be more heavily affected by the government cuts. By taking to the streets of Leeds we are
making a public stand for women everywhere.?
All who support our aims are welcome to join the march.