Rally takes back the night

Members of the Milledgeville community joined on Thursday, April 13 to "Take Back the Night." "Take Back the Night" is an international march held to raise awareness of violence against women. Originally inspired by the radical feminist movement, "Take Back the Night" was planned as a protest against rape and other forms of violence against women. Senior Sociology major, Laura Brown was one of the coordinators of the protest. "Sexual Violence is so often ignored or misunderstood and we wanted to bring more awareness to the issue to our campus," Brown said. "Everything that is going on at Duke (University) just proves that sexual violence is still very much a problem on college campuses and needs to be addressed." Over 60 people participated in the march, which began in front of Georgia Military College and ended at the Old Courthouse. While marching, people held signs reading "Justice for women" and "Stop violence against women." During the march the group chanted, "We are the women, we are the men, together we fight to take back the night." After the march, a rally was held that consisted of multiple speakers, a survivor speak-out, and handouts about sexual violence. Buttons that read "Not Without My Consent" were also distributed. Senior Psychology major Melanie DeMaeyer was also one of the coordinators for the event. One of the most memorable moments of the evening was when we were walking down the middle of the street in the downtown business district and everyone was chanting and carrying their signs; I got chills and in that moment, all of the work we had done was well worth it," DeMaeyer said. "I also really loved that during the vigil, with everyone holding their lit candles, someone started singing ‘This Little Light of Mine.’ It was an amazingly beautiful moment." Erin Hanna, field and chapter organizer for the National Organization for Women, came from Washington DC to speak at the rally. Hanna is a former member of NOW’s Young Feminist Task Force and has served on the Women of Color and Allies Committee for NOW. "I think the event went great," Brown said. "We had hoped that (we ) would have at least 25 people and we would be happy with that and we ended up with over 60. Our speakers, Erin Hanna from NOW and Nicole Campbell, did amazing jobs and it seemed to just go beautifully." The GIVE Center, the Women’s Resource Center and the Coverdell Institute sponsored the event. "We have been preparing for the event since this past October," DeMaeyer said. "’Take Back the Night’ had a truly cooperative planning process and it would not have happened without the hard work of Laura Brown, (Director of the GIVE Center) Kendall Stiles, the Women’s Resource Center, and many others." DeMaeyer said that she and Brown decided to organize "Take Back the Night" because they wanted people to acknowledge that sexual violence happens in the community and on campus. They also wanted people to understand that if the community works together, a difference can be made. "No one should have to walk down the street worrying about who may be lurking in the shadows and no one should have to go to a party and worry if the person they went with or met there might slip something into their drink," DeMaeyer said. "We want to help create a community that speaks up about violence against women, that refuses to tolerate it, and that is constantly working to eliminate it." Graduate student and coordinator of Women’s Resource Center Jennifer Graham-Stephens also attended the event. "It was a great night and I was happy with the number of men that showed up because this is a societal issue," Graham-Stephens said. "Working as the coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center, we were happy to facilitate the event." According to statistics from Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, "every two and a half minutes someone in America is sexually assaulted. One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape and 10 percent of sexual assault victims are men. About 44 percent of rape victims are under age 18, and 80 percent are under age 30."

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 21 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry