On a freezing Saturday afternoon in March, Southall Broadway was momentarily brought to a halt as 150 women, children and men took to the streets, placards and banners in hand, to protest against the persistent violence women and girls face within our communities.

They came from near and far – from London, Surrey, Shropshire, Wales and Yorkshire. Some had travelled 200 miles to be there, emotions high, outside the Indian High Commission in London, on the eve of 7th January, in response to the horrific gang rape and murder of a young woman, 23 year old physiotherapy student Jyoti Singh Pandey, on a bus in New Delhi.