Students protest to ‘take back the night’

     Several students, male and female, chanted and carried posters as they marched from the residence halls to the old Milledgeville courthouse. They were protesting to “take back the night.”
     According to the Take Back the Night organization, the origins of TBTN are unknown. Some think it may have started in 1877 when women protested the fear and violence experienced in the night-time streets of London, England. Others believe the first rally occurred in 1976 when women attending the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women lit candles and took to the streets of Belgium to criticize the continuation of violence against women.
     The event was held on Thursday, April 10 by The Women’s Resource Center and the GCSU Feminist Club.
     The speaker of the evening was Dottie Stafford, director of the Middle Georgia Crisis Line. She was chosen since she is from the Middle Georgia area, said Jennifer Graham-Stephens, Women’s Resource Center coordinator.
     “Right now that’s the only crisis line that our students have to utilize in their area is that crisis line,” Graham-Stephens said.    “We wanted students to know that here is one of the people whom they would be calling, so it kind of takes the scariness away.”
     Stafford’s speech was based on Mahatma Gandhi’s quote of being the change you wish to see in the world. She discussed why events like TBTN are important and how believing falsehoods about violence against women can make people feel better.
     “Myths tend to make us feel better,” Stafford said. “We don’t feel as vulnerable about what’s going on.”
     Most TBTN rallies today give survivors of violence an opportunity to voice their experiences and show others how they shifted from victim to survivor, and this one was no different. After Stafford’s speech, survivors of violence were given the opportunity to break the silence and speak out.
      Ten survivors told their stories, two were males. The first to get up and speak was senior art major, Denise Chambers, who spoke about being sexually abused as a child.
     “For many years, I had been ashamed of it,” Chambers said.
     She said she felt what she had gone through wasn’t as bad as what others had been through.
     “A professor of mine once said that your pain is your pain, and I know that sounds simple, but it’s true,” Chambers said. “I wanted to share my pain with others in the hopes of giving someone else courage.”
Pain is not something that takes one step, Chambers said.
     “Your pain is not something you can just deal with and get over; it’s a process,” Chambers said. “You go through that process by acknowledging and dealing with your pain and becoming a stronger person.”
     Graham-Stephens said individuals sharing their experiences is both a good and bad thing.
     “On one hand, you’re really, really glad that people have chosen to be brave and courageous and share their stories, but at the same time, your heart breaks because they have to share their story,” Graham-Stephens said.
     Rachel Stephens, a freshman psychology major, is one of the several students who participated in the march. She said she wanted to fight against domestic violence and to learn more about the issues.
     “I learned about the women’s shelter and why one is needed in Milledgeville,” Stephens said.
     Stephens said people should care about these issues because they occur often.
     “It is one of those things that happens, but it’s so commonplace that people are complacent,” Stephens said. “Plus, it seemed like a great outlet for the people who shared their story.”
     Graham-Stephens said she wanted everyone to leave feeling they could make a change when they left TBTN.
     “We don’t have to be these really powerful politicians, and we don’t need to have lots of money,” Graham-Stephens said. “We can all do little things everyday.”
     TBTN is an important event because violence against women is so prevalent, according to Graham-Stephens.
     “Sexual assault and violence against women as a whole is something that can affect anyone,” Graham-Stephens said.    “One is too many, and until the day when it doesn’t happen to anyone, it will be important to raise awareness and to educate people.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 18 2008. 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