While Angela Rose was walking out of a shopping mall nearly a decade ago, a man came up behind her, held a knife to her throat and shoved her in a car.
Her hands were tied, but she freed them. She reached for the door handle, but he was too quick and put the knife to her cheek, Rose told about 30 students in the Wildcat Den Thursday evening.
"He told me, 'You try that shit again bitch and your face won't be so pretty anymore,'" she said.
He drove to a clearing, forced her to put on a gown, which was stuffed in the back seat with identical dresses in many sizes.
Then, after he assaulted her, he dumped her in a parking garage.
Today, the man is serving a life sentence in prison, while Rose travels educating about sexual assault.
Her speech was part of Take Back the Night, a daylong international event hosted by the Women's Center to create awareness about sexual assault.
The event began with a poetry reading and tabling in the morning, a Men Against Rape workshop and Survivor Speak Out in the evening, and a candlelight vigil at night.
Since Rose's abduction, she has learned sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes. Often, people blame women on the basis of how much alcohol they drank or how scantily dressed they were.
"We live in a victim-blaming society," Rose said.
After Rose's abduction, she petitioned for tougher laws for repeat offenders. Some teachers and friends confessed that they had been sexually assaulted but were afraid to tell anyone.
Realizing many women experienced the same sexual abuse, Rose created Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment ---- an organization that is a safe place for sexual assault victims to disclose their painful pasts when they have nowhere else to go.
"Be there for them," Rose said. "Give them options. Just be a good listener."
Rose remembers wanting a good listener when she reported her abduction to the police. One policeman accused her of lying.
It was like being revictimized, Rose said.
Rose can speak about rape, unlike victims who couldn't live with the pain, she said.
"Many can't speak about it now because they've ended their own lives," she said.
The solution won't come from just women grouping together and discussing experiences, Rose said. The problem must address men too.
"If we don't have men in our movement, we don't have a movement," she said.
In a Bell Memorial Union room, members of Men Against Rape and Sexism discussed stereotypes and how they relate to sexual violence.
About 15 men said words like dominant, aggressive and sexually driven are used to describe American men, while passive, weak and dramatic were used to describe women.
The stereotypes that men are supposed to live by are sometimes harsh, member Chris Montoya said. Those who defy stereotypes are often chastised.
"You're gay. You're a pussy," he said.
These names, and other gender stereotypes, are some of the reasons rape can occur.
"Men are supposed to be violent, dominant," member Brad Lambert said. "Within the context of a sexual situation, that sounds like rape to me."
Men and women supported sexual assault victims in the Free Speech Area with lit candles and decorated posters.
Jacqui Reed and Kristen Koba carried lit candles through downtown.
Both agreed rape is an issue on college campuses and around the nation.
Rape is ignored by many people because it's controversial, Reed said.
"People are too sad to talk about it," she said. "It seems easier for people to ignore the fact that it happens."
Rose said the reason so many men and women cannot recover from sexual assault is because their voices are ignored.
Rose refuses to be ignored, spreading her message throughout the United States.
After her abduction, Rose became a musician and a political activist. Her experience has given her the courage to fight and spread her motto:
"From victim, to survivor, to thriver."
Julianne Riddle can be reached at
Mando Navarro can be reached at
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