Hundreds take part in Reclaim The Night march

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Plymouth for a "Reclaim the Night" march.

The protest - organised by women's charity Trevi - aimed to raise awareness of women's safety as part of sexual violence awareness week - which runs from Monday 3 to Sunday 9 February.

Organisers of the march said figures showed the city was grappling with a higher-than-average prevalence of violence against women and girls.

Mel Severi, community fundraiser and organiser at Trevi, said more than 500 people attended the event in Plymouth city centre.

Ms Severi said: "The core message in Plymouth at the moment is that we're still seeing spikes of violence against women and girls year upon year, we're still the highest prevalence in the entire country for domestic abuse calls to the police - we see 11% higher than the national average."

"We have been fighting for this for decades and decades, my family before me have been fighting for this, and it is very frustrating that we're still having to do it," she added.

Hannah Shead, CEO of women's charity Trevi, said there was almost twice as many at the event this year compared to last year.

She said: "What we're talking about is cultural change, and cultural change takes more than a number of us out tonight, it takes all of us actually caring about this issue and wanting to see change."

Ms Shead brought her sons with her to the march, and said it was important men were a part of the cause.

"That's the sort of thing that makes me feel hopeful, because also actually it's about men being part of this...standing alongside and saying 'enough, we won't tolerate violence against women and girls anymore."

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