According to the ASUO Women’s Center, 85 percent of all rapes on college campuses are committed by acquaintances of the victims, and 90 percent of all acquaintance rapes involve alcohol; but tonight the community will stand together, loud and outraged.
Groups from the University will host an evening of empowerment, education and celebration tonight during the 31st annual Take Back the Night rally, march and speak-out in Eugene.
Campus and community members of all ages and backgrounds will gather at 6:30 p.m. at the EMU Amphitheater to heighten awareness of sexual violence and its continued pervasiveness worldwide, most notably on college campuses.
The first Take Back the Night (TBTN) march was in Brussels during the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in 1976. More than 2,000 women from 40 countries marched together in candlelight to protest violence against women and reclaim the sexual, physical and mental security of women worldwide.
“Every year since that first gathering, women around the world have been marching through the streets of their communities to demand an end to the violence and to celebrate those who have survived,” said Brandy Ota, director of the Women’s Center.
Eugene’s own event began in 1979, and now includes more than 300 people gathering together to march and speak out against rape and sexual assault.
Put on by the Women’s Center, Sexual Assault Support Services and Womenspace, this year’s speak-out will feature performances by the University squad of Radical Cheerleaders, a spunky group of activist cheerleaders who protest with pom-poms, as well as the Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team.
Speakers will include Patricia Cortez of the Amigos Multicultural Services Center and Juventud Faceta, as well as women’s and gender studies adjunct professor and longtime activist Gwyn Kirk.
Kirk first saw a TBTN march in London in 1976. She spoke at Eugene’s 2003 rally and has returned to speak again at tonight’s event because she considers TBTN to be an important way to activate the public’s awareness of sexual violence.
“Violence against women is so ingrained in our culture, our media and many people’s attitudes,” she said. “It’s crucial to speak out about it, and to do so in public. Respect for women should be a basic principle of all societies.”
McKenna Hynes, a University senior who works for the University and Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator at the Women’s Center, is one of the main planners of this year’s TBTN march. She feels strongly that the University community in particular needs to learn about the seriousness of sexual violence toward women.
“This campus has obviously not gotten a good grasp on the effects of rape culture and how these ideals and attitudes play out in everyday exchanges. Sexual violence is still — detrimentally — acceptable in our community,” she said.
Hynes hopes tonight’s march and speak-out event will push the campus to change the way the University handles sexual assault and rape charges in the future.
“Take Back the Night is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community members to unite and acknowledge the severity of this issue in hopes of pressuring the University to take stronger action against sexual violence in its treatment of survivors, punishment of perpetrators, and policies to reflect a zero tolerance position,” Hynes said. “We need to come together to show our support for survivors of sexual assault and interpersonal violence, and Take Back the Night is the stage for starting this movement.”
Tonight’s speak-out at the end of the march also provides a supportive and important environment for survivors of sexual violence to share and speak out against their experiences.
“This is an important step on their path toward healing and a very powerful part of this event,” Kirk said. “They are breaking the silence that surrounds our society’s culture of violence against women.”
Hynes added that the stories shared by survivors can be both empowering and triggering for other victims, so there will be support services and advocates for survivors to speak to during the event.
In addition to facilitating change in the way the University deals with sexual violence, Kirk plans to address men in the community during her speech, asking them to share in the responsibility of educating and sustaining a secure environment for women.
“I will … particularly encourage men to support women’s security and opportunities — as brothers, fathers, friends, classmates, lovers, partners, sons, colleagues, teachers, University administrators, doctors, spiritual leaders and legislators. Even if men do not commit acts of violence, and many do not, men cannot be bystanders on this issue. They need to speak out to other men,” she said.
Hynes hopes tonight’s march and speak-out will help community members to consider their own connections to sexual violence survivors and how they can promote lasting change.
“One in four college-aged women have been victims of attempted or completed rape. How many of your friends are female? How many of your closest friends are survivors? And how can you best support them? This event is not just for the women who have survived rape, but for our other friends who have been victims of hate crimes and oppression. Take Back the Night is not just an event but an experience for everyone to stand up and speak out against the forces that keep us down,” Hynes said. 
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