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The Riveters 

Women’s Week because ‘Feminism Rocks’

Sunday 10^th October

Million Women Rise Manchester (Women only)

• Meet 2:30 pm Castlefield Arena

The aim of the march is to raise awareness of and stand up to violence against women and children. Women and children are welcome in the march and others are encouraged to support from the sides.

Monday 11^th October

Flash mob: only 6% of Rape cases end in conviction (meet Advice Center 11:30)

• Only 10% of Sexual assaults are reported to the police and only 6% of those result in a conviction. Help us say this isn’t good enough. Stand up and be counted by joining in are flash mob.

6-7 Gender aware Facilitating (North Campus Students union)

7-9 Documentary Strong Coffee: the story of Cafe Femenino (North Campus Students Union)

Tuesday 12^th October

12-1 Gender aware facilitator training (MR1 Student Union).

1-2 Street Harassment workshop- come and share your experience and get are top safety tips and advice (MR1 Student Union).

2:30-5 What is Ladyfest? Learn to organise a DIY feminist music and arts festival (MR1 Student Union).

8-9: Yes means Oooo Yes and No means STOP- Sex positive workshop on consent. This workshop is about becoming more confident in the bedroom and learning to communicate what you do and don’t want (MR1 Student Union).

9-10: Women in Prisons: talk about what is like and discussion (MR1 Student Union).

Wednesday 13^th October

1-2 Self Defences Class MR4 (women only)

1-2 Ask the Vice-Chancellor some difficult questions? (Students Union)

Thursday 14^th October

Sister Activist Training Day- (full)

Riveters Meeting 5:30-7  The Riveters (Manchester Women’s Rights Collective) is open to anyone of any gender.   Followed by Lionel Shriver’s book launch event (In the Advice centre in the Student Union)

Friday 15^th October

Arts day all day in the foyer

Riot Grrrl!!! Evening in the bar (7-11:30). We are taking over the SU bar with women DJ’s all night and lots of feminist fun. So come down and have a drink, maybe dance a little and celebrate who you are.

The Riveters are on line:
Blog: http://riveters.wordpress.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/riveters
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=5658551317&ref=ts

Contact me:
Women’s Officer
0161 275 2939
07787 422 509
womens@umsu.manchester.ac.uk
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf

The first Riveters of the year (YAY) and socialising after? (Thursday at 5:30)

The Riveters meet every Thursday at 5:30pm in the Advice Centre and our first meeting will be on the 30th September. There will be tea and biscuits as well as many friendly faces so pop along to the Advice Centre in the Students Union for our first meeting.

The Riveters work is non-hierarchal, open to people of all genders and works through consensus decision making. Anyone can bring agenda points to the meeting. The first meeting will probably be relatively short followed by drinks of some sort so as we can all relax and get to know each other.

Riot Grrrls

Just found this on the web and thought it was funny:

Sam

(from http://weheartit.com/entry/3797749)

Morning after pill: Radio 5 Live debate

Yep that’s right, I was on Radio 5 Live last night debating the possibility of the morning after pill being given out before unprotected sex to be kept at home. Have a listen and leave comments below, it’d be great to here what people think.

Go to about 52 minutes in and listen from there.

Listen here

Just found this…

…and thought it was lovely:

Somewhere on a wall in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

(via Jonathan Hopkins)

Reclaim the Night

The Riveters organised a Reclaim the Night march with over 200 people, check out the photos and read the report below.

On Friday 23 April The Riveters took to the streets with over 200 people to unite against the fear of violence against women in daily life. We marched together for women’s empowerment, and held a fundraiser afterwards for Women Asylum Seekers Together.

Women in Manchester live in fear of violence, and this march gave us freedom from that fear. Manchester rape convictions rates are below the national average at only 6.1%, and 1 in 4 women are victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. This march was about saying that together women can feel safe, that we should not be living in fear, and that the streets are ours!
The first marches in England were held in 1977 in response to the Ripper Murders in Leeds. Police advice was to simply ‘stay at home’, and women rejected this on the basis that they should be able to be out at night. The ethos has now come to symbolize a fear of all violence against women, helping to incorporate domestic violence and sexual abuse within the home.
The main message is that women shouldn’t live in fear of violence, and that they shouldn’t fear being blamed for violence. In a recent Amnesty International survey, 26% of the population said a woman should be held wholly or partly responsible for rape if she was wearing revealing clothes. This is unacceptable.

The mantra we sing, “Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no”, is a philosophy which goes beyond the limits of  Reclaim the Night. We live in a sexist society; one that is still governed by patriarchy and capitalism. We must remember that women are not to blame – ever. If a woman wears a short skirt, makeup or a burqa, if she drinks or is paid for sex – sexism and violence against women is never a woman’s fault, and women shouldn’t be used as an excuse. If we as feminists want to fight for a society where every woman is free to make choices to control her own life we must target the system they have to make their choices within – we must target the oppression: sexism, patriarchy, homophobia, capitalism, racism, transphobia, classism, disablism and  biphobia, and anything else I’ve missed.