Jess Bostock and Sylvie Pope – who have been campaigning for nearly three years – have been celebrating their achievements, as the UK government last week announced that it will ask the police to record crimes motivated by a person’s sex or gender.
Following the tragic death of Sarah Everard, Home Office Minister, Baroness Williams, last Wednesday declared that all police forces in England and Wales will be asked to record crimes caused by hostility based on sex or gender from autumn onwards, and this change is taking place while the government awaits the outcomes of the Law Commissions review of hate crime legislation.
Two graduates from @officialuom who founded the @MisogynyIsHate campaign in 2018 have been celebrating this week, as @govuk announced that the police will be asked to record crimes motivated by a person's sex or gender https://t.co/GHpEcN56lE
For Jess and Sylvie, this is a major step forward, as it brings them closer to their goal of ensuring that misogyny is classed as a hate crime, which will help to tackle male violence against women.
Having experienced unwanted sexual advances and everyday sexism herself, Sylvie Pope started the campaign to make misogyny a hate crime as leader of Greater Manchester Citizens Women’s Action Group back in 2018 – while still a Social Sciences student at The University of Manchester – and was inspired to take action after hearing about Nottingham Citizens, a group who had successfully campaigned to see Nottinghamshire Police become the first police force in the UK to record misogyny as a hate crime.
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The pair then brought together women from across Greater Manchester’s communities to form an alliance as part of Greater Manchester Citizens.
Community leaders from @GMCitizens launched this campaign in 2018, following calls from women across Manchester and in admiration of the successes of @NottinghamCitz (2)
Since forming, the team have campaigned relentlessly, running a series of action events, conducting research into misogyny in Greater Manchester, meeting with decision makers and sharing experiences of harassment, violence and hate.
Not only was their campaigning instrumental to the Law Commission’s review of hate crime legislation last week, but in 2020, following a number of consultations, the campaign gained the backing of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has recorded misogyny hate crime as a key policy in the ‘The Greater Manchester Strategy to Tackle Violence Against Women and Girls’.
“We are absolutely thrilled that women have been listened to, and that misogynistic crimes will be recorded.” Jess Bostock said.
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“Women from Greater Manchester and The University of Manchester have been campaigning around these issues for years [as] recording misogynistic hate crimes is a simple, yet necessary, step to better understand and map women’s experiences and ultimately to tackle misogyny and male violence against women.
“By mapping every woman’s story or report of a hate incident, we can pre-empt patterns of abuse and redistribute funding to vital community services.
“Recording where men are committing violence against women is just the start and there is so much more to be done.”
Hundreds of Citizens leaders from across five cities met with the @Law_Commission throughout 2019, sharing stories of everyday harassment and violence. These stories directly impacted the Commission's recommendation in 2020 to recognise misogyny hate crime legislation. pic.twitter.com/WzQWwVrPNY
Sylvie Pope added: “I chose to study in Manchester because it was the Suffragette City.
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“At the beginning of this campaign, I sat in a boardroom across from Mayor Andy Burnham and told him my story of misogyny [and] I’m incredibly proud of the hundreds of women who have since joined our campaign across Manchester and bravely told their stories.
“It’s a relief to hear that we’ve finally been listened to, and that this law change will impact millions of women and girls in our city as well as across the country”.
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”