Posted on March 26, 2006
Take Back the Night 2007, scheduled for Tuesday, is an annual event to bring JMU students and Harrisonburg residents together to educate the public about violence against women and the prevalence of sexual assault.
“Take Back the Night and Clothesline are held all over the country, in different shapes and different ways, but always in the same voice,” said Hillary Wing-Richards, coordinator of the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention. The event’s purpose is to remember, respect and honor all survivors — male and female, adult and children.”
Tuesday evening’s event will include invited speakers, musical performances and a speak out.
“The speak out is when people in the audience can take five minutes at the microphone and either tell their story of healing or the story of someone they love,” Wing-Richards said. “It is a time when many survivors speak for the first time.”
According to statistics from the Women’s Resource Center, 42 percent of college women who are raped tell no one about their assault.
“One of the biggest problems with sexual assault and rape is that there’s a big silence issue around it,” said sophomore Maria Gandolfo, president of Campus Assault ResponsE. “I think that having a big event to support the primary and secondary survivors allows them to feel the support and know it’s good to tell their story; that being silent isn’t acceptable.”
The Clothesline Project, a visual display of shirts made by members of the JMU community, is another medium for primary and secondary survivors to share their stories. Women’s Resource Center Assistant Director Heather Driver said victims of many kinds of violence create the T-shirt display.
Wing-Richards added, “The first Clothesline Project was held 10 to 12 years ago in Taylor with only about 25 shirts. Now we have over a thousand.”
Both events are co-sponsored by the Take Back the Night coalition, Office of Sexual Assault Prevention, First Year Involvement, Office of Residence Life and the University Health Center.
“The night provides a safe forum for discussion of sexual assault-related topics and for the chance to hear the personal accounts of survivors, which I believe contribute to our own understanding of sexual assaults’ impact on us all,” said sophomore Peter Mooney, a member of One in Four. “The White Ribbon Campaign, which coincides with Take Back the Night, is a campaign where we ask men to sign a petition stating that they will not partake in, condone, nor remain silent about sexual assault.”
Recent statistics have shown that sexual assault and rape are not offenses exclusive to women. According to statistics from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 22 percent of victims of sexual assault and rape are male.
Take Back the Night hopes to achieve this understanding by breaking the silence.
“A lot of the time, sexual assault and rape is a silent crime, and raising awareness is the first step in trying to end the violence,” Driver said. “We really try to make a point that men can be victims of sexual assault and rape, and how it’s different being a man in the fight against sexual assault.”
Wing-Richards agreed.
“It is important to keep stories of sexual assault and rape alive,” Wing-Richards said.
“To remind men and women that sexual assault strips not only the soul and core of the victim, but all of society.”
