Thanks to the collaboration between the ASUO Women’s Center and Lane County’s Sexual Assault Support Services, last night was the 36th annual Take Back The Night event.
Take Back the Night is an international project and non-profit organization with the ultimate goal to end all forms of rape and sexual violence. A typical Take Back The Night event will include a march, a vigil and a rally. Take Back the Night aims to raise awareness about sexual violence and support survivors regardless of gender.
As someone who had never attended an event like this, I had no idea what to expect. As I walked on campus before the start of the event, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, as I moved towards the EMU, I began to sense that this would be anything but a typical Thursday night. The energy in the air was electrifying: Students could be seen holding homemade signs that said things like, “Violence is a choice.”
To begin the evening’s program, the Service Employees International Union led the crowd in singing a song about taking back the night. Hundreds of voices, both male and female, filled the air. Organizers expected at least a few hundred people to show up and estimated that they had already reached their goal by the beginning of the event and expected more to show up throughout the evening.
Brandon Brezic, a University of Oregon sophomore, attended the event with a few of his fraternity brothers in order to show their support.
“This [sexual violence] is something that effects Greek Life in the University of Oregon. It is an issue that should be presented to everyone. Guys in Greek Life aren’t all horrible and we want to support good things like this,” Brezic, a first time attendee, said.
Multiple student groups performed throughout the program. The event also featured keynote speaker Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, who is a femme writer, performer, organizer and sexual assault survivor — among many other things. Leah spoke about the importance of knowing the truth in a culture that is often filled with lies. She also encouraged students to learn the difference between what their yes was and what their no was.
“I think it is really amazing to see so many people come out against sexual violence and rape culture and it is really amazing to see the diversity of the folks who are out here and that folks are willing to take a stand a break the silence,” Piepzna-Samarasinha said.
As the sun set, participants joined together for a march to Downtown Eugene. The march symbolized a fight for the end to the violence women face while walking in public at night, as well as the end of patriarchy and date rape.
Afterwards, the event congregated in the Lane Community Downtown Campus for a speak-out, during which sexual assault survivors could tell their stories of pain, recovery and hope, in an environment free from judgement and full of validation.
Caitlin Corona, the coordinator of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education was pleased with the way the evening turned out.
“I hope everyone feels empowered,” Corona said.