2008 Woodie Awards
Women seize the night
By: Meghan Moriarty
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Online Exclusives
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Nov. 14, 2008
She was hitchhiking. She thought she could trust him. He started driving away from where she needed to go. He sexually assaulted her. She trusts no one.
This story is just one of many for several women who have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
More than 100 women pack into the darkened Bell Memorial Union Room 210, only the twinkle of a string of white lights illuminating their faces, to voice out against rape and sexual assault for Survivor Speak Out, as part of this year's Take Back the Night Thursday.
Take Back the Night, a two-day event that raises awareness for all forms of violence against women, is more than just an educational experience, said senior Jessica O'Donnell, program director for the A.S. Women's Center.
"It's taking away the blame and the fear that women feel," she said. "It's our responsibility as a society to not allow for sexual assault to happen."
Only women were allowed in the room for the Survivor Speak Out, while one floor up in B.M.U. Room 310 a gender-neutral workshop for men against rape was held.
Junior Dash Weidhofer attended the gender-neutral speak out and said that even though he mainly came to support friends, the rape and assault statistics shocked and interested him, he said.
"It was cool that even though there were only like ten people there, they were still willing to open up about their experiences," he said. "I want to support [the victims]."
Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States, and about 73 percent of rape victims know their perpetrator, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network Web site.
Senior Thomas McGrady attended the event as a requirement for a class, but was nonetheless concerned with the issue of all around safety in Chico for both women and men.
"There's a lot of times when I have to avoid certain areas," McGrady said. "I think that the parking hours being changed from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. was a horrible idea; it was a major setback on safety."
Take Back the Night's history may reach back to 1877 in London, England when women took to the streets to protest night-time violence against them, according to Take Back the Night's official Web site.
Since then, there have been manifestations of it worldwide in the forms of rallies and silent marches.
The $1,000 Jen O'Hare Women's Studies Scholarship, awarded to students who show passion about sexual assault activism, was given to senior Allison Ivie Thursday night.
There were also two educational and safety workshops to kick off the event Wednesday.
About 200 people, predominately women, gathered in the Free Speech Area Thursday before they marched downtown on the final event of the evening: a candlelight silent march. Women were segregated from men to symbolize that they shouldn't have to feel the need for protection from men when walking alone at night, and instead feel strength in numbers with their fellow sisters, said senior Irma Rivera, a volunteer at the A.S. Women's Center.
"Like any other memorial, your taking time to reflect on the victims and survivors," she said. "It's about building that whole support group for everyone."
Meghan Moriarty can be reached at mmoriarty@theorion.com
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