Reclaim the Night(Life) – Sexual Harassment in the Night-Time Economy: Zine Making as Method and Participant-Led Data Analysis

Abstract

This short reflective piece sets out the background to the Reclaim the (Night) Life project, an ongoing research project into sexual violence/harassment in the night-time economy of Leeds (UK). This initial output from the project, which has involved a team of five academics from the UK Centre for Event Management at Leeds Beckett University, is based on work produced at a co-creational zine-making workshop. The workshop involved a group of students, from the university, working with their lived experience and using the workshop to support them in undertaking some initial analysis of data captured from a prior online survey. Sociologically, the zine’s purpose is to share initial research findings in a way that could engage its target demographic (young women), give voice to some of their experiences, explore zine making as a form of data capture and participant-led data analysis, and act as a prevocational device for the next stages of the Reclaim the (Night)Life research project.