Speaking can seem simple, yet it can be very difficult.
A voice raised against a powerful institution or an apparently settled decision carries risk.
It may be dismissed or criticised.
But when one person speaks out, others may recognise their own concerns.
A private doubt becomes a shared question; a shared question can become public pressure; and public pressure can change what once looked inevitable.
I recently had the privilege of attending a talk with the inspirational Salisbury Woman, Zelda Perkins CBE, organised by Salisbury Soroptimists, her bravery in speaking out led her to founding the Can’t Buy My Silence campaign.
In 2017, she became the first woman to break a non-disclosure agreement connected with Harvey Weinstein, despite the possibility of legal action.
Her decision exposed how agreements designed to protect legitimate commercial information could be used to suppress harmful conduct and shield powerful people from scrutiny.
Her work demonstrates that speaking out is not merely a moment of disclosure, it makes it safer for the next person to speak.
The same principle was seen recently regarding the footbridges across the A36.
The planned removal of the Wyndham Road Footbridge was challenged following Paul Russell’s Freedom of Information request, bringing it into the open.
I had a telephone call with National Highways and so our communication began.
From then on, we spoke regularly, whether through calls, public meetings, in person working groups, the NH Communication Van or online meetings, talk was at the heart of everything we did.
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We didn’t always like what we heard but the talk continued, and our National Highways colleagues listened.
The result is that both the footbridges will be replaced.
The stakes in these two stories are very different but shows that silence protects the status quo.
Speech makes hidden consequences visible.
Emails and social media, don’t always have the same impact as actually talking to someone.
Sometimes, it pays to be, as reported about a Female Reformer in August 1819, “an uncontrollable woman, whose tongue no human effort could check”!
Sharon Rideout is the city councillor for St. Francis and Stratford Ward, Salisbury
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