T-shirts decorated by sexual assault survivors and opponents of abuse were hung over resource tables outside the Wexner Plaza at Take Back the Night, Thursday evening.
Ohio State’s Take Back the Night, a national annual event for women and survivors of violence, was sponsored by Womyn and Allies Rising in Resistance.
WARR has sponsored the event, one of the largest women’s events in the country, since 1978. Proceeds from the event were donated to the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio.
This year’s theme was “Shattering Silence, Naming Names,” said Valerie Hendrickson, a sophomore in Chinese and member of WARR.
“Rape victims are shamed into silence and we are trying to combat that,” Hendrickson said. “It is really important that you speak out if you have been raped or know someone who has been raped.”
Many campus and Columbus area support groups, such as the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization, Counseling and Consultation Services, It’s Abuse, and College Democrats, ran information tables at the event.
The evening concluded with a march for “women-identified people,” said Peggy Kittila, a sophomore in welding engineering and co-president of WARR.
“The march is about women taking back the right to walk alone at night,” said Emily Kitsmiller, a sophomore in psychology.
Gloria McCauley, executive director of BRAVO, handed out safety whistles at Take Back the Night. McCauley first became involved with Take Back the Night in 1977.
She said the event was “totally about empowerment.”
“We can do the things that we have been taught that we cannot do,” McCauley said. “Sexual violence happens to us, our friends and our family and we need to stop ignoring it and make positive steps.”
Katherine Witzman can be reached at [email protected].
