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Students unite to ‘take back the night’

Students, several organizations and specials guests came together Thursday night for “Take Back the Night,” an event raising awareness for sexual assault, harassment and rape on college campuses.

The event was hosted by the UH Women and Gender Resource Center in collaboration with the Student Programming Board. The night featured spoken-word poet Lady Caress, as well as stories from survivors of sexual assault.

“Truly, I don’t know that I am strong,” Destiny Riley, one of the survivors, said. “I’m obligated. There are too many in silence, and I know how it feels to be there.”

Riley was one of two survivors to speak at the event, sharing their stories of perseverance, how they overcame the trauma of sexual assault and are working to give back to others.

“The distinction for me between a victim and a survivor is very multi-faceted,” Riley said. “The first steps that I needed personally were losing fear of the past. I needed community, and I needed to take a deep breath.”

The event was organized to raise awareness of a prevalent and growing issue on college campuses.

Students listened to poetry from Lady Caress, as well as stories of survival, followed by a march around campus in a sign of solidarity.

Malkia Hutchinson, the program coordinator for the WGRC, said the collaboration between her group and SPB helped to reach more students than ever before.

“This is our ninth year,” Hutchinson said. “When I came about three years ago to this position, the groundwork had been laid…we change it up a little bit every year. So this year, the Student Programming Board had a really large presence in helping us plan it.”

Mathematics senior Myles Parnell, the Comedy and Speaker’s Chair for SPB, said he thinks the event is a great way to reach students.

“I feel like people forget that it’s actually an issue because you don’t see it in your everyday life,” Parnell said. “But it is an issue that does affect people, and people need you to show that you publicly support [them].”

Members of the Student Government Association, including student body president Shaun Theroit-Smith, were also present at the event.

“Our administration this year is focusing predominantly on health and wellness issues,” Theriot-Smith said. “Specifically much more so on sexual assault awareness, education and prevention on campus.”

Theriot-Smith went on to say that SGA is preparing for their own event, which will tackle issues of violent crimes.

“We have an event coming up shortly after this called ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes’,” Theriot-Smith said. “It’s an event that tackles sexual assault and gender-based violence on-campus and off-campus.”

Mathematics junior Yehee Son said she knows the importance of the event and how hearing real stories rather than just quoting statistics can have more impact.

“It’s an awkward conversation to have and think about,” Son said. “But it’s really important.”

Son mentioned that she wished the event had more of a focus on domestic violence, as well as sexual assault and trauma.

“There’s so much more abuse that’s not just sexual,” Son said. “I feel like it’s a huge part that was kind of left out.”

The night culminated with a candle-lit vigil and moment of silence for victims and survivors of sexual assault who couldn’t speak out for themselves.

“Let’s just take a vow that we keep that line of communication open,” Lady Caress said.

“That we come together as a group and say that we’ll do everything that we can to help promote a positive experience between individuals both on-campus and off-campus.”

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2 Comments

  • Do not drink to excess, do drugs and keep in pars….and there is almost zero chance you will be sexually assaulted. It is not rocket science……

    • Your comment is drastically misinformed and offensive. A significant percentage of domestic violence and sexual assault occurs in intimate partner settings. This means that rape occurs more commonly with the person the victim is already dating, not by a stranger in a bar. Further, we as a society should put the responsibility on perpetrators to not commit violence, not on victims to avoid it.

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