Take Back the Night and several other student organizations are sponsoring a series of educational events this week to spark discussion among students and support victims of gender motivated violence. Increased awareness of sexual assault issues over the past year has resulted in a greater student interest in these events, .
Take Back the Night, an annual event, focuses on gender-motivated violence, including violence against women, incest, molestation and transgender violence.
According to Take Back the Night co-chair Elizabeth Trautman (SFS ‘05), the goal of the week is to break the silence around gender violence by creating forums for constructive dialogue.
“Unfortunately, gender violence is something that every person deals with in some way either directly or indirectly, but it’s often a kind of violence that people are very uncomfortable talking about and don’t realize the prevalence of,” said Trautman.
Thirty-six campus organizations are showing their support for Take Back the Night, ranging from putting the names of their organization on violence prevention fliers around campus to co-sponsoring events. “It’s really important to have a lot of different voices involved because that’s the only way that real change occurs,” said Trautman .
This is the first year that College Republicans, College Democrats and the Knights of Columbus have been involved in the organization of the events.
According to College Democrats Vice President Noah Riseman (CAS ‘04), Take Back the Night is the first campus event that College Democrats and College Republicans have sponsored together. He said that the collaboration of these two political campus groups on Take Back the Night Week shows the importance of gender violence.
“Violence against women is an issue that transcends party lines,” said Riseman.
Though Take Back the Night is primarily focused on supporting and educating women, the events of the week seek to reach out to both men and women. Trautman said that men are invited to participate in all of the event, and one event is specifically targeted get men involved in the prevention of violence against women.
“Our target audience is anyone who is interested, anyone who wants to learn,” said Elizabeth Ellcessor (SFS ‘04), Co-Chairperson of Take Back the Night.
Faculty members are also involved this year. Maya Roth, director of the theater program, and Assistant Professor of Theater Francis Tanglao-Aguas will be performing solo pieces on Thursday in Bulldog Alley at an event co-sponsored by the Mask&Bauble Society.
“The issues at hand affect us all-young, old, students, faculty, staff and family. We are a campus community. Speaking out together and creating safe spaces together is critical,” said Roth.
For the Knights of Columbus, who are co-sponsoring the “DC-Men Can Stop Rape” Workshop this week, Take Back the Night is part of a continued effort to bring awareness of violence against women to men on campus. They have also supported the formation of a men’s group on campus to discuss sexual assault issues.
“As Catholic men, we support the prevention of violence against life. Fighting against sexual assault is an important element of our core values,” said Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Ben Cote (CAS ‘05).
