Since 1978, local residents and community members have taken to the streets for Take Back the Night, an event aiming to raise awareness of sexual and domestic violence. The event is one of hundreds occurring in an international protest movement. Organized by the UO Women’s Center, a local Take Back the Night will begin on April 28 with a rally featuring several keynote speakers from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by a march through Eugene from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

“The event takes a three-pronged approach by supporting survivors, educating the community and preventing future harm,” Fatima Roohi Pervaiz, director of the Women’s Center, said. “We will speak to a myriad of issues, including underrepresented, marginalized populations — Native American and Indigenous communities, Latinx communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, for instance — and how they all intersect with domestic violence.”

This year, the event aims to specifically address the stigmatization and silence regarding instances of sexual and domestic violence. Kati Rodriguez Perez, the sexual violence and prevention coordinator for the Women’s Center and co-organizer of the event, pushed for the theme in order to lift up marginalized voices.

“Our aim is to address the culture of silence that a lot of feminized people — particularly people in marginalized communities or with marginalized identities — have to deal with,” Perez said. “In our patriarchal society, the experiences of sexual and domestic violence have generally been overlooked and undermined and dismissed, so people feel as if they have to stay silent.”

In 2018, the National Crime Victimization Survey found that just 25% of sexual assaults were reported, in spite of more than one in three women reporting having experienced some form of sexual or intimate partner violence. For those in marginalized communities, that number was even higher.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the April 28 rally will mark the first in-person Take Back the Night event since 2019. In 2020, Pervaiz essentially organized the event from her laptop; in 2021, she moved her workspace into her home in order to plan it. She said she was looking forward to returning to an in-person experience that addressed the fallout of pandemic-related concerns.

“Survivors might have been isolated, even sheltering in place with their abuser or perpetrator. Children were not in school, and so teachers, bus drivers, folks trained to look for signs of abuse didn’t have the ability to discern potential harm or neglect at home,” Pervaiz said. “That virtual movement was incredibly powerful and essential for survivors, and seeing that global solidarity and support was unmatched. But we are eager to come back together.”

Take Back the Night has also led to partnerships across a host of campus organizations and interest groups. The Women’s Center has partnered with Alpha Chi Omega, who will be student hosts for the event; Duck Rides, who will offer accessible transportation; and Students for Choice, who will host a sign-making booth beginning at 5 p.m. at the EMU Amphitheater, according to Pervaiz. UO Muxeres, as in past years, will paint their faces in half-skulls, representing and honoring those who have not survived sexual and domestic violence.

Pervaiz said roughly 20 trained Women’s Center student staff will be present and visible in the audience during the rally, offering a safe space for protesters who might feel emotional or vulnerable. The staff will also carry kits including tissues, resource cards for on- and off-campus partners and resources, a map of the march and rally and 1 ounce containers of Play-Doh for overstimulated or anxious attendees.

“People often don’t share these experiences, which they may have compartmentalized for years,” Pervaiz said. “It can get emotional and intense, especially because the stories shared are always so incredibly vulnerable, incredibly powerful.”

Perez said she hopes attendees will understand the importance of speaking out and addressing the harms of sexual and domestic violence. They said understanding the interconnected nature of violence is critical to preventing it.

“You might not have a shared identity with another person, but what happens to them does affect you in a different way,” Perez said. “I think attending events like this will really help people see the impacts this violence has on so many people.”

Pervaiz noted that students of all backgrounds and awareness levels on social justice issues are welcome at the event, particularly those with underrepresented voices.
“There is no stereotypical survivor, and there is no model survivor,” Pervaiz said. “People of all genders and identities can and do endure and perpetrate sexual and domestic violence. We need everyone working toward this issue, toward ending this violence and toward expanding the dialogue on this issue.”