#endviolenceagainstwomen and #endpolicebrutality: Protest at Cardiff Bay Police Station

On Monday 15th March, many attended a peaceful protest at Cardiff Bay Police Station.

The protesters were calling for the end of police brutality, as well as the end of violence against women.

The protest last night was one of many that has been occurring across the UK since the saddening death of Sarah Everard.

One of the speakers at the protest, Eve Morley, told The Cardiff Tab that the purpose of the protest was to not only raise awareness “about the #endpolicebrutality #endviolenceagainstwomen and #blacklivesmatter, it is also about the current situation with the anti-protest bill that is going through parliament as we speak.”

She added: “Protesting is our democratic right. Although COVID-19 is a huge issue we are facing at the moment, as someone who believes so highly in this cause and movement, I would rather use my voice to protect my human rights and my place in this world as not just a human being but also a woman. We have been dehumanised and it’s time for it to stop.

“I hope that the men in our communities will take responsibility. #notallmen is trending right now when men should be taking action and calling out those who have sexually assaulted women. They should be helping us to change headlines from ‘Women being assaulted’ and ‘Crimes against women’ to headlines such as ‘men assaulting women.'”

She continued: “The only way to take down an oppressive system is to do it from the inside.”

Eve posted to the Facebook group Overheard saying she “never planned to speak however after reading so many of the horrible and upsetting assaults against and harassment towards young women in this Facebook page [Overheard], [she] felt as if someone had to go up and speak directly to our oppressors.”

The Cardiff University student continued to say in her post: “we deserve to go to university in a city where we are not scared to walk home to our student accommodations.”

She added: “We will never succeed with our movement unless we get involved, unless we speak up to our oppressors and tell it straight to their faces.”

In a video shared by Morley, she is seen addressing the officers stood in front of the police station and stating that she is “19 years old and the amount of sexual harassment [she] has faced is disgusting.”

South Wales Police responded to the protest by releasing a statement, saying: “We understand the strong sense of feelings [Sarah Everard’s] death has evoked across the country and in our local communities”, further stating that these feelings have “not gone unheard.”

They continue, however, to say that “we must remember we are still in the midst of a global pandemic in which members of our communities are dying.”

They added: “Officers work hard to engage with protest attendees in order to remind them of their obligations under the current Coronavirus legislation and the overarching goal for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh Government regulations.”

SWP end their statement by commenting: “While we know it will be disappointing for some, we urge everyone to mark this event and make their voices heard in a safe alternative way.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Catcalling women on their daily walks ruins our one solace in this pandemic, and it’s not okay

• Over 100 participants in Cardiff’s ‘Reclaim These Streets’ online vigil

• ‘It’s painfully normalised’: Cardiff students discuss experiences of sexual assault