Thursday night in the amphitheater of the EMU, hundreds of students and community members gathered to speak out against sexual assault and domestic violence.
Various University and local organizations raised awareness by tabling along the amphitheater and passing out brochures. Among them were the Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team (SWAT), HIV Alliance, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Alliance, Lane County District Attorney Victim Services Program and the University Women’s Center and the University Men’s Center.
Students, faculty and community members of all ages came together at 6 p.m. to celebrate their survivorship and hear guest speakers present inspirational lectures.
SWAT students presented interactive workshops to engage the audience, polling volunteers from the crowd on their comfort level in certain situations.
Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown attended the opening rally at the EMU. Brown spoke with a passion for women’s rights and received thunderous applause.
From the amphitheater, the crowd marched to 8th Avenue and Oak Street where the survivor speak out was held.
Along the way, the crowd danced to the beat of local drumming group Samba Ja. Both women and men marched with confidence, chanting “survivors unite; take back the night!” and “What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want them? Now!”
The variety of the crowd ranged from couples strolling arm-in-arm to small children holding picket signs beyond their comprehension. Women in short plaid skirts waved signs that challenged stereotypes, reading “wear what you want without fear.”
The march was meant to accommodate people of all paces, which included those in wheelchairs, elderly persons, and dogs.
As the line of people filed across campus, students in the Knight Library stared through the windows in acknowledgment of the rally.
University senior and SWAT member Anthony Green said he hopes people will get the support of their community from Take Back the Night. He also said there are too many misconceptions about sexual assault.
“Way too many people think that women claim rape as a way to gain status or money,” Green said. He added that he loves this night, when people can come together and celebrate and learn.
A group of safety team members lined the march to keep things under control during the rally. One safety team member, who wished to go by Sandra, said that Take Back the Night had the full cooperation of the Eugene Police Department. She said that EPD donated its time to make it a safe environment for everyone. Sandra added that safety team members had already removed a few disruptive and problematic people from the rally before the march even began.
As the crowd winded around past the library and spilled onto Alder Street, one of the first landmarks passed was Pi Beta Phi’s sorority house. A huge sign hung from the girls’ house that read “Take Back the Night!”
Chapter member and University junior Sarah Zamiska said Take Back the Night is an important event because people should be aware that sexual assault affects so many people.
“Take Back the Night is kind of a big thing that really shows our empowerment that we want our rights back. We want to feel safe being ourselves, being women in our society,” Zamiska said. “Whether it’s walking or standing outside showing your support or making a sign, anything you can do to support that really helps.”
“Seeing how many people they had this year, how many men were in the crowd, was amazing,” Zamiska said. “Last year there were men but it just seemed like there were so many more this year. And to have them on the same page as us really makes a difference.”
During the walk, marchers fell into the rhythm of their own tambourine shaking and blocked intersections at red lights to cheer and yell at stopped traffic.
At the final destination of 8th Avenue and Oak Street, the crowd settled onto the ground to listen to volunteers share their personal experiences for the Survivor Speak-Out. As people huddled around picnic tables in the back, helping themselves to snacks, sexual assault survivors gathered up their courage to open up to the audience. The survivors’ names were withheld to protect their privacy.
The first speaker was a middle-aged woman who recalled her perpetrator as being an acquaintance. As a result of that terrible evening years ago, she now has a daughter, whom she hopes will never have to be exposed to the kind of pain she was, she said.
Another survivor shared that she had been hiking in the mountains in South America at about 13,000 feet, when two men came out of nowhere and held her at gunpoint. The woman said this experience was terrifying, and she quickly realized she would rather trade quick sex for her life.
Other survivors struggled with the notion that their loved ones didn’t believe them when they finally got the courage to speak out.
One woman announced she is 56 years old and is a 46-year-old survivor. She admitted that her grandfather had raped her at 10 years old; then her dad when she was 16 years old. Years later, when she finally told her family, none of them believed her. Instead, they called her crazy. She said her father went to his death without acknowledging what he did.
She left the audience with a message: “Silence is not the cure.” She said it would have saved her so much suffering had she really understood the importance of speaking out.
A survivor from the age of seven, one woman shared that she was raped at her neighbor’s house years ago. She said the hardest thing was that her parents blamed her for it.
Blame and guilt are powerful emotions with which survivors are constantly faced.
One two-time survivor said after she was raped at a party, she finally told her parents what had happened days later. Her mother was understanding, she said, but her father’s response was “you shouldn’t have been drinking.” At this, the survivor wept into the microphone. She said responses like this weaken her faith in the justice system. She said she has reached the point where she feels that reporting her second rape to the police won’t even do any good.
After the rally, school buses were hired to take students back to campus.
Brown asked everyone in the audience before the march to recommit themselves this week to ending violence across the country. She said that after such a frightening week with the Virginia Tech shootings, it can be easy to lose perspective.
“I ask you to recommit yourself to ending violence in our homes, in our communities and across this world. And tonight is the night, we’ve got a beautiful night, to make that happen,” Brown said. “Lastly, I just want to close with a quote from one of my heroines. Because I truly believe, and the reason why I’m still in the legislature after all these years, that each of us can make a difference.”
Before thunderous applause, Brown ended her speech by reading the famous quote from Margaret Mead.
” ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’”