This year’s MWR march takes place on Saturday, 8th March, starting at Duke Street and concluding with a rally in Trafalgar Square. The MWR website reads, “We march in sisterhood, solidarity and unity to protest the lack of action to address male violence. We march to remember and grieve the countless women and girls who have been killed through male violence, including through state-inflicted/sanctioned abuse.”
MWR is a space for women to safely release their emotions. “I came on stage last year, and I didn’t realise I needed to cry,” says Esi. “It just happened. Sometimes you need to shout, sometimes you need to rage, but it’s a space where you can safely release whatever you’re feeling.”
The MWR is open to all women. Men can show their support in many ways (including cheering from the pavement) but are encouraged not to attend the march itself. “So many of our spaces are controlled and dictated by men,” says Esi. “So to have a space where women can come together – by us for us – is really, really empowering.”
“There’s lots of ways that men can support. They can look after the children, help with logistics, and drop and collect. They can talk about the march with the male friends, they can be allies, they can hold other men accountable.”
She continues, “It isn’t about men not being there. It’s about us being front and centre and taking over the streets.”
Throughout its history, MWR has been led by Black and global majority women. “It’s important to see Black and Asian women at the front in the same way we’re seeing other marginalised women, such as disabled women leading the march saying that we are still here, we’re still alive, and we’re fighting another day,” says Kafayat.
“We are still here as a global majority of women taking the lead; this has to be preserved but also respected.”
Esi adds, “Our focus is on black and global majority women because the murders, assaults and violence against black and global majority women and girls is less reported, and less supported.”
She continues, “Million Women Rise is a truly intersectional space, but one that really honours the story and the experience of black and global majority women.”
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