DOZENS of campaigners clad in sparkling pink and bright red attire gathered outside the Sub Rooms in Stroud on Valentine's Day to demand an end to violence against women.


To the sound of lively music and booming drums, the so-called 'flash mob' came together on Thursday as part of the worldwide One Billion Rising movement, which aims to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.


Members held their index fingers aloft to symbolise their support for the initiative as similar demonstrations were staged across the world.


The campaign, dreamt up by the playwright and feminist activist Eve Ensler, derives its name from a statistic which shows that one billion women will be raped or beaten in their lifetime - equivalent to one in three.


One of the organisers of the Stroud demonstration, Jenny Willis, 51, said: "We just wanted to strike, dance and rise up against the atrocities against women and girls across the world and to call on men, women and children to stand against the perpetrators."