The University is bringing awareness to sexual and domestic violence by giving students a place to share their stories at Take Back the Night, a candlelight vigil and march on Sunday.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. at Memorial Tower with live music from the band Storywood along with free food and T-shirts, said Kathryn Saichuk, Health Promotions coordinator for the Student Health Center.
During the event, the names of all of the people who lost their lives due to sexual or domestic violence in the past year will be read, and a silhouette to represent the person will be held by someone in the audience, Saichuk said.
Before a 1-mile march through campus, students and people from the community will present information about domestic and sexual violence, and survivors will share their stories, said Summer Steib, Women’s Center director.
At last year’s event, psychology junior Courtney Brandabur shared her personal story of being attacked and how she found healing.
Brandabur said she realized that she couldn’t change what happened to her, but she could control how she handled the situation and how it affected her.
She said she didn’t want to be naïve about what happened, but she was determined to be positive.
While Brandabur said speaking at such a large and public event like Take Back the Night was hard and intimidating, it helped her find strength.
Brandabur said it was one of the most empowering things she had done and it began her journey as a women’s activist. She founded Girl Warrior and now helps women from the University and the surrounding community.
Take Back the Night allows girls to become more aware about sexual violence. This is beneficial to the University because, statistically, it is likely that women will either deal with sexual violence themselves or have friends that will, Brandabur said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five women will experience an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
Also, one in four women will experience intimate partner violence, according to The Department of Justice.
Brandabur said more events like Take Back the Night are needed in the community to help survivors, but sexual violence is still a taboo subject, and survivors often feel shame about what happened to them.
Saichuk said events like Take Back the Night are important because they help participants understand how traumatic relationship violence affects people and that there are many campus and community resources for anyone who is in a dangerous situation.
“We don’t have to except behavior and attitudes that are derogatory toward us when we are in a relationship,” Saichuk said.
Steib said this event helps make sexual and domestic violence real for students because they don’t just get to hear the numbers but get to see people who are affected. Often times it’s people they see every day.