Anti-violence shirts hang in front of the Lyceum at the Take Back The Night rally on Thursday April 16 (DM Photo | Kayla Beatty)
The UM Violence Prevention Office hosted an annual rally for Take Back the Night, an international non-profit organization with the mission of combating sexual and domestic violence, Thursday in front of the Lyceum.
Many campus organizations participated in the rally, including the Sarah Isom Center for Gender Studies, Army ROTC, UPD, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council.
Interim Isom Center Director Jaime Harker commented on the origins of these demonstrations and how they’ve evolved.
“The idea of Take Back the Night was to say ‘We’re going to go out in groups and reclaim our right to exist and not be afraid of where we are’,” Harker said. “The truth is, when you look at statistics for rape, the vast majority are committed by people you know, so that image of the anonymous rapist is probably not the majority, but the symbolism is still important.”
One in three women and one in six men worldwide experience sexual assault within their lifetime, and less than 50 percent of rape cases are reported, according to the Take Back the Night foundation’s website.
“This is something that we’re a part of all the time,” UPD officer Kendall Brown said. “We partner with Health Promotions, Violence Prevention Office, OPD and Family Crisis Services off campus. We’re constantly working to eradicate and raise awareness of violence, especially sexual violence.”
Director of the UM Counseling Center Bud Edwards spoke during the event about his first involvement with Take Back the Night in 1992. After talking about becoming the father of a beautiful daughter, Edwards said the thing that was most important to him was to protect her and everyone else’s daughter.
“I made myself a promise that by the time she went to college, I would have done my best to reduce, if not eradicate sexual violence on the college campus,” Edwards said. “I must say I did not succeed quite like I had hoped to, but I do feel like we’ve made progress.”
Ole Miss softball player Natalie Martinez, Verizon Wireless district manager Lorianne Singleton and Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council presidents Ellen Mitchell and James-Roland Markos spoke on how students can better protect themselves and the community against sexual violence.
“I think any time you have an organization that represents a large part of the campus, it’s important for that organization to realize the potential that they have to impact the campus in positive ways and promote positive change,” Markos said.
Following the speeches, students marched through campus while members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity led participants in chants of “Hotty Toddy, it’s my body,” and “two, four, six, eight, no more date rape.”
Take Back the Night began its U.S. activity in the late 1960s and established itself as a non-profit organization in 1973. Take Back the Night events now occur in 30 countries annually.
“It has turned into a celebration of survivors, an attempt to reach out and give information to people about resources and places they can go for help,” Harker said.
