WOMEN marched through the streets in towns and cities across Britain on Saturday to “Reclaim the Night” from male sexual violence.

In cities including London, Leeds and Sheffield hundreds protested demanding action to stop increasing levels of sexual violence and abuse.

The protests were Britain’s 44th annual Reclaim the Night demonstrations, and this year took place against the background of the murders in London of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in June 2020, and Sarah Everard who was killed in March this year by a serving police officer.

The protests were also part of the annual UN Day to End Violence Against Women which took place on Thursday, when hundreds of thousands of women worldwide were reported to have marched and demonstrated.

In London Saturday’s protest was women-only, and speakers at a rally included Labour MP Anneliese Dodds, shadow women and equalities secretary.

Patricia Chinyoka held a handmade placard naming three Zimbabwean women who have been murdered at the hands of men.

In Leeds around 300 people, mainly women, marched following the same route women took in 1977 when Britain’s first Reclaim the Streets protest was staged.

That march was staged in response to police advising women in West Yorkshire to “stay off the streets” at a time when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, known as the “Yorkshire Ripper,” was terrorising the north of England, murdering 13 women between 1975 and 1980 — 11 in Yorkshire and two in Manchester.

Women in Leeds carried placards which included: “Gender equality is a human right — not a female fight,” “We will not walk in fear,” “Educate your sons,” and “We will not be silenced — end violence against women.”

Some placards said simply “97%” — a reference to a new survey in which 97 per cent of Leeds women said that being female makes them more at risk of attack from men, and that the number of women in Leeds who have reported sexual harassment is more than double the national average.

West Yorkshire Labour Mayor Tracey Brabin said the findings were “alarming and shocking.”

Women also marched in Sheffield in South Yorkshire on Saturday night.

Hannah Budd, women students’ officer at Sheffield Students’ Union, said: “Every woman deserves to feel safe out on our streets.

“The devastating events that have taken place this year shows just how important it is that we come together to resist all forms of violence and harassment against women at Reclaim the Night.”