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The United Resistance campaign press release: 3 months of love and defiance

news release

A 100 Women March on Tuesday 3 April 2018 marks the beginning of a three-month sustained campaign against fracking in Lancashire and beyond.

The Lancashire Nanas and Women Against Fracking will lead Tuesday’s march in solidarity with their sisters before them, fighting for equal rights and their voices to be heard in the 100th year of women being given their rightful ability to vote. Wearing the sashes of the Suffragettes, those participating in the #100Women March will focus on other rights that have become relevant today; the right to protect themselves and their children from the ill-effects of polluting industries, the right to protect reproductive health and the right to be heard and listened to in the process of government approving plans seen as detrimental to health.

Peer-reviewed studies show that expectant mothers who live near active fracking wells have an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies as well as increases in childhood illnesses. Studies also show a link between increased cases of breast cancer and proximity to fracking wells; the women plan to leave behind bras at the fracking site in order to draw attention to this aspect of opposition to fracking.

Each week of the United Resistance sees a different group or aspect as its focus: Week One continues with the women-led theme. On Wednesday 4 April, the women will participate in the weekly Call for Calm that has seen gatherings for a silent ritual on Wednesdays for the last 35 weeks, followed by an action called ‘Yarn-On’, which involves knitting baskets at the entrance gates to the fracking site.

Thursday 5 April’s action is entitled ‘Toxic Thursday’ and is an opportunity to showcase the inadequacies seen in the county’s Local Plan for dealing with toxic spills that occur at fracking sites. White overalls and face masks will be worn and there will be information and demonstrations of the types of materials likely to be encountered during a fracking operation. Also examined will be how regulators and emergency responders are able to safely deal with this new industry in a densely populated and busy area.

The final day of Women’s Week will end with ‘Funeral Friday’ seen as a poignant reminder of how it came to be that women are so clearly prominent in this movement. Participants refer to the early evidence brought out by the Utah Midwives who encountered increasing health issues amongst newborns and miscarriages amongst the women living near active fracking sites. Representative of those lost children, dolls will be placed at the fracking site and the women will hold a ‘funeral’ service followed by a wake.

The following weeks’ specific information will be released in due course, but please find below, the weeks’ outline of the United Resistance campaign, with clickable links:

Week One, 2nd – 6th April: Nanas/Women against Fracking
Week Two, 9th – 13th April: Political Colours
Week Three, 16th – 20th April: North West Week
Week Four, 23rd – 27th April: No Faith in Fracking
Week Five, 30th April – 4th May: Art And Music Against Fracking

Week Six, 7th – 11th May: Save Our Land
Week Seven, 14th – 18th May: Uniting the Roses
Week Eight, 21st – 25th May: Local Camps and Health day
Week Nine, 28th May – 1st June: International Week
Week Ten, 4th – 8th June: Unions

Week Eleven, 11th – 15th June: Green Party Week
Week Twelve 18th – 22nd June: Preston New Road
Week Thirteen 25th – 29th June: Reclaim the Power + Finale Week

ENDS

Note to Editors:

1. For all press enquiries and information, please email directly: unitedresistance@protonmail.com

2. The United Resistance will be led by Lancashire campaigners, with national collaboration.

3. The film, Power Trip: Fracking in the UK can be seen here.

4. Daily press and PR information will be uploaded to this link.

5. Public and political opposition to fracking is at an all-time high. The Conservatives are now the  only major political party that actively supports the industry, and only 16% of the public support  fracking, compared to 79% for cleaner, safer and cheaper renewables.

6. Dedicated local campaigning against fracking in Lancashire and beyond for the last seven years has halted this industry. Sustained opposition has caused months of delays, millions of pounds of losses, and supply chain companies cancelling their contracts.

7. More info about the United Resistance can be found here.

8. Campaign poster attached

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