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Speaker 1: Now, yesterday on the show, we spoke to one of

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Speaker 1: the organizers of a walk in central Australia which is

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Speaker 1: aimed was aimed at uniting the community to take a

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Speaker 1: stand against assaults on women out doing exercise Take Back.

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Speaker 1: The track was organized after two women were assaulted while

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Speaker 1: running along the Todd River in the last fortnight. Now,

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Speaker 1: after speaking on this event being organized, we also learned

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Speaker 1: that there were actually further women who had been well

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Speaker 1: assaulted along that track in the last fortnight. The Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory Police had revealed, but in what's then absolutely shocking.

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Speaker 1: My understanding is that during yesterday's event four women were assaulted.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to give us some

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Speaker 1: insight is indeed the organizer MORGANA. Garland Fernandez, Good morning

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Speaker 1: to you. MORGANA.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie MORGANA.

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Speaker 1: What happened yesterday?

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Speaker 2: Well, we had our event yesterday and we had an

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Speaker 2: incredible turnout. We had over one hundred and fifty people

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Speaker 2: turn up to support women's right to exercise safely in

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Speaker 2: public spaces. Really pleased with the turnout, really happy with

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Speaker 2: all the conversations that were happening around women's safety and

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Speaker 2: the concerns that women have we also know made significant

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Speaker 2: roads into our fundraising, so you know, those are all

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Speaker 2: real positives. But unfortunately, so the group took off, we

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Speaker 2: had two distances at two and a half and a

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Speaker 2: six kilometer distance, and I was hanging around at the

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Speaker 2: start and finishing points, and when the first sort of

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Speaker 2: handful of people came back from that two and a

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Speaker 2: half kilometer distance, I was approached by two women to

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Speaker 2: let me know that during the events, they had been

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Speaker 2: approached by a group of teenagers and one of the

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Speaker 2: women had been inappropriately touched by one of those teenage boys.

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Speaker 2: So I immediately contacted police to let them know that

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Speaker 2: we were having an event and there were teenagers hanging

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Speaker 2: around and one of our women had been inappropriately touched.

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Speaker 2: And then yeah, more and more stories have sort of

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Speaker 2: been filtering back to me last night and today to say,

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Speaker 2: I think now we've got probably six women who were

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Speaker 2: saying that they had the same experience, and a number

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Speaker 2: of witnesses who were reporting that they saw that group

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Speaker 2: of young people as well. So it's really devastating, well

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Speaker 2: that this happens, and that this happens during an event

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Speaker 2: that was to promote women's safety. I'm absolutely flawed that

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Speaker 2: this has happened.

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Speaker 1: MORGANA. I'm so sorry to hear that that happened, and

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Speaker 1: to those women yesterday, And I feel for you, I

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Speaker 1: feel for the organizers, I feel for everybody, because you're

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Speaker 1: doing such a great thing by holding this event, as

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Speaker 1: you rightly said, you know, you've got more than one

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty people there. That's incredible. So you've got

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Speaker 1: such a large portion of the Alice Springs community that

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Speaker 1: want to do the right thing for each other, and

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Speaker 1: that you're there, you know, to stand up for women

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Speaker 1: and to stand up for women's right to exercise, and

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Speaker 1: then to have this happen. Look, it makes me feel

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Speaker 1: really upset and really angry.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, me too, And it's just unbelievable, you know, like,

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Speaker 2: if we are not safe while surrounded by one hundred

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Speaker 2: and fifty people who are looking out for us, where

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Speaker 2: are we safe? It's really sort of escalated that sense

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Speaker 2: of fear. And I guess proved our point that if

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Speaker 2: a societal issue, and that it does not matter what

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Speaker 2: precautions women take, the pains has to come from men,

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Speaker 2: and it has to come from the conversations that fathers

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Speaker 2: are having with their children and their sons at home

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Speaker 2: about respect, about boundaries, and about consent. You know that

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Speaker 2: needs to be happening. The group of young people involved,

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Speaker 2: they were very young, some of them we believe were

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Speaker 2: as young as eight years old, but also some older

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Speaker 2: teenagers in the group as well, who were probably setting

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Speaker 2: a bad example. But I guess our question is, you know,

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Speaker 2: who are those fourteen year olds learning from? Why has

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Speaker 2: nobody told those children that that behavior is not okay?

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Speaker 2: And we need men in society to be speaking to

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Speaker 2: their families, their children, their friends, their colleagues and calling

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Speaker 2: out disrespectful behavior wherever and whenever they see it.

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Speaker 1: Morgana, you said that the police were called, so obviously

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Speaker 1: was reported to the police. Did the police attend what

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Speaker 1: happened next?

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Speaker 2: So I'm not sure whether police attended. There were sort

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Speaker 2: of a number of different sites which were away from

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Speaker 2: the finish line, which is where I was. But I

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Speaker 2: made a report immediately as soon as I was notified

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Speaker 2: that that was happening, and I know another woman also

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Speaker 2: made a report. And we're encouraging anyone who experienced bad

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Speaker 2: behavior or witness bad behavior to contact police as well.

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Speaker 2: And unfortunately I'm now in the process of putting together

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Speaker 2: a spreadsheet to try to get a clear picture of

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Speaker 2: what happened, and I will be taking that for the

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Speaker 2: police as well.

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Speaker 1: So, MORGANA, do you think there may have been more

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Speaker 1: than six women inappropriately touched?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like there was a group of young

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Speaker 2: people sort of moving up the path in the opposite

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Speaker 2: direction to our participants, and as they moved along, it

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Speaker 2: seems that they were sort of putting out their hands

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Speaker 2: for high five with a bunch of participants, and then

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Speaker 2: it seems that every now and then they decided to

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Speaker 2: grab a woman's bottom as well.

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Speaker 1: MORGANA, do you think they Do you think they knew

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Speaker 1: what had been organized? Or do you think that it

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Speaker 1: was just an opportunistic thing.

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Speaker 2: I couldn't really speak to that. I honestly don't know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, oh look, it just makes me a lot, to

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Speaker 1: be honest, It makes me wild, like I can't wrap

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Speaker 1: my head around it. And you know, then I start

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Speaker 1: to think, not only you know, where's your parents and

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Speaker 1: why those conversations not have being had, but then I'm

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Speaker 1: also questioning, like what discussions are happening in Alice Springs today?

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Speaker 1: Are people really quite furious to hear that this is happening,

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Speaker 1: you know what a community leader's saying, and people around

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Speaker 1: the town.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess as the news is filtering out, there's

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Speaker 2: more and more people getting involved. So I've had quite

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Speaker 2: a few people reach out to me today from all

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Speaker 2: different walks of life to share their stories, to share

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Speaker 2: incidents that they've experienced in other places on other days.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, I guess it's sort of everything is evolving

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Speaker 2: this morning. But I guess from some women, I'm also

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Speaker 2: experiencing a sense of resignation, you know, like, yep, we're

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Speaker 2: not safe, even in an event to promote women's safety,

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Speaker 2: We're not safe. And that's what it is to exist

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Speaker 2: as a woman in the world. So that real sense

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Speaker 2: of resignation and defeat, which is that absolutely heartbreaking, and

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Speaker 2: I just want to put it out there again. You know,

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Speaker 2: we will not stand for this. This behavior is not acceptable,

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Speaker 2: and we do not stand for it. Women are entitled

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Speaker 2: to exercise in public spaces without fear of harassment and harm.

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Speaker 2: We are entitled to that, and we demand that safety

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Speaker 2: for women.

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Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And you know what, we've got to

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Speaker 1: continue to stand up and say that because we've got

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Speaker 1: to do it for our daughters. We've got to do

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Speaker 1: it for the younger women as well, the young girls

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Speaker 1: that want to be able to do exactly the same thing.

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Speaker 1: More can I ask you on? I know it's hard

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Speaker 1: now to sort of talk about the positives, but one

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty people that's wonderful because what it shows

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Speaker 1: you is that the large portion of the community agree.

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Speaker 2: With you absolutely. And it was also really heartening to

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Speaker 2: see a good number of men come as well, and

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Speaker 2: I personally had some really great conversations with men saying

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Speaker 2: thank you for showing up for us, Please go home

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Speaker 2: and have those conversations with your friends, please be an

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Speaker 2: advocate for us going forward as well. So that was

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Speaker 2: really wonderful. And the fundraiser has gone really well.

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Speaker 1: So.

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Speaker 2: From donations which came in last night, we hit the

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Speaker 2: three thousand dollar mark, which is and then this morning

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Speaker 2: I also had a really lovely conversation with a local

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Speaker 2: business owner from our Springs Realty and they are going

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Speaker 2: to be giving us a one thousand dollar donation as well.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, so there's definitely good news. We're close

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Speaker 2: to our target, so that's happy news.

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Speaker 1: That is happy news or more Gana look Ie, so

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Speaker 1: as I say, I'm so sorry to hear what had

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Speaker 1: happened yesterday for all of you wonderful people that were

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Speaker 1: there organizing a fantastic event, and and you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: really in saying that I'm really pleased to hear that

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Speaker 1: that fundraising has gone really well and that there are

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Speaker 1: so many great people in the community that are taking

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Speaker 1: a stand, that are going this is not good enough

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Speaker 1: and we will not stand for it.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, and thanks for sharing our story and helping

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Speaker 2: us to make noise about this as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, anytime, and look, please do keep in contact with

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Speaker 1: us because you know, if you have another event, like

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Speaker 1: I feel really passionately that I do believe women, as

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Speaker 1: you have said, reserve and deserve the right to be

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Speaker 1: able to go out and exercise safely, and I just

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Speaker 1: think it's woeful then what happened yesterday. So please do

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Speaker 1: keep in contact with us if you have another event,

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Speaker 1: if there's something that happens that you reckon we need

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Speaker 1: to know about and let the whole of the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory know about. Please keep in contact and do let

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Speaker 1: us know will do. Thank you, Thank you, thanks so

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Speaker 1: much for your time