The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Tate Kaneshige

Take Back the Night, a rally and march put on to raise awareness on sexual violence, attracted approximately 40 students, townspeople and community leaders to the steps of Miller Library on Thursday, April 16. Hundreds of rallies like this one are held globally each year in order to remember the victims of sexual assault, as well as to share experiences and raise community consciousness about the issue.
The evening included both speeches and students marching around the quad chanting, "We have the power, we have the might, the streets are ours, take back the night!"

Meg Hatch of Waterville Rape Crisis Assistance and Prevention in Waterville, the event's guest speaker, urged the audience to be vigilant about identifying and preventing sexual violence in all its forms. She gave special attention to the role of men in cases of rape and assault, because 99 percent of the perpetrators of such violence are male. While Hatch acknowledged that the large majority of men are non-violent, she also encouraged the men in attendance to be good role models for their peers-and to remember that their actions might have a direct effect on the well being of others.

Student speakers also shared their personal experience with assault, showing firsthand how prevalent this kind of violence is in our society. My Tien Huynh '11, one of the student organizers of the event, said it was this kind of frequency that made her get involved with issues of sexual violence prevention in the first place. "I have friends who have been disrespected in a lot of ways" she said, "[Sexual violence] happens more than we think it does. Don't be afraid to stand up for your friends...we have to look out for one another."

Plans for the event came about when Kim Parker and Huynh, both class of 2011, began discussing plans for a new branch of Student Health on Campus (SHOC): Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA), which has existed in other forms in past years. In order to gauge interest for the group, as well as to make an initial statement about the very real danger of sexual assault, Huynh and Parker decided to organize a Take Back the Night Rally at Colby.

For Huynh, the event was a success. "The people who were there got a lot out of it, and now we know where to go for next year," she said.

The statistics concerning sexual assault are staggering: one in five adults in Maine has been raped. This fact makes rallies such as Take Back the Night an inspiring and important way to raise awareness about rape, as well as to remember victims and celebrate survivors.

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