Although many students consider rape exclusively a women’s issue, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance’s Take Back the Night event Thursday brought men and women together to fight sexual assault.
The program, which drew more than 50 survivors and supporters, included speeches from community leaders and counselors, personal memoirs from survivors, a candlelight vigil on Kogan Plaza and a march through campus. Organizers moved the main portion of the event to the Hall on Virginia Avenue from Kogan Plaza because of rain.
About 15 men attended the event, and three men joined the march after it started, FMLA organizers said.
David Rider, who works for the organization Men Can Stop Rape, said men are often portrayed in the media as overly masculine, which can lead to their assertion of power over women. His two relationships with women who survived sexual assault helped him realize the connection between masculinity and the media.
But he said men and women need to work together to solve the problem and it might bring awareness to campus that both sexes need to work together.
“There’s an inherent guilt that comes with sexual assault,” said FMLA Director of Public Relations Alicia Trider. Trider said she wants to inform other students when she finds out about a person who assaulted another student so people can protect themselves against future attacks.
About 30 students shared personal accounts of assault in an open-microphone event in the HOVA Capitol Room.
The open mic drew about twice the number of survivors willing to tell their stories this year than last year. They were “closed sessions,” meaning anything said inside the room stayed inside the room, last year and this year. But more students were willing to share this year because the event had a more “closed off” feeling, said FMLA Events Chair Melinda Macdessi.
Last year the event was outside and “anybody walking through Kogan Plaza” could watch, she said.
The march through campus drew support, despite a few comments from male students in front of Fulbright Hall.
They yelled “dykes” and “lesbians” at the women, Trider said.
But Trider said other men and women on campus were supportive, and the male speakers at HOVA helped the cause.
Charles Robbins, father of Progressive Student Union member junior Ali Robbins, spoke about his experiences in New York as the first male director of a rape clinic.
The University Police Department also put on a program to teach women how to protect themselves against attackers. Because women carry their weight in the lower half of their bodies, they should bend their knees when confronting an attacker. Areas to target include men’s insteps, shins and groins, their weakest areas.
The Rape Aggression Defense program offers free classes teaching basic self-defense techniques designed specifically for women. Information can be found on the UPD Web site.
“I wish I could take the course but since I’m involved in so many activities I don’t have time (to take out) of my weekends,” Macdessi said.
These programs “show you how to strike back and get away, creating distance between you and your attacker,” FMLA president Jenny Hoffman said.
A crafts fair followed the UPD demonstration, where participants decorated white T-shirts with artwork expressing their feelings about sexual assault. The shirts were displayed on a clothesline. Other craft projects included bracelets and posters with supportive messages.
“People don’t think (sexual assault) is as big a problem as it is. They say ‘it doesn’t happen where I live,’ but it does,” said sophomore Stephanie Whiteside, who volunteers at a rape clinic.
Other speakers and performers included junior Tracie Smith, who co-runs a sexual assault survivor support group on campus, alumna Melisa Pardes, who spoke a performance art piece about her experiences as a sexual assault survivor, senior Kate Herring, who sang three original songs about relationships and Hoffman.
“Understanding that rape is not your fault (is important),” Smith said. “Go and seek support and take the initiative to empower yourself.”
