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'Take Back the Night' campus rally is April 15

'Take Back the Night' April 15 is intended to make students, faculty and staff aware that violence against women is real, often unprovoked and harmful to everyone.

2009-04-09
By Robb Murray, Free Press Staff Writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 4/6/2009]

About a year ago, when Lauren Pilnick and others got together for the annual Take Back the Night rally and marched around cam­pus spreading the message that violence against women is, obviously, a bad thing, an injus­tice was done.

While chanting, a male stu­dent in one of the upper floors of the McElroy residence hall dropped his pants and stuck his butt out the window in the general direction of the mostly female crowd.

This act, while arguably humorous on a sophomoric level, demonstrated clearly why events such as Take Back the Night take place.

“I think some men feel threatened by women having power,” said Pilnick, sexual assault educator at Minnesota State University’s Women’s Center.

Take Back the Night is com­ing up again. It’s just one of the events happening in April, which is sexual assault aware­ness month. Take Back the Night has been staged on the MSU campus since at least the early 1990s. But whereas some of those early efforts had a somewhat militant vibe, Pilnick says last year’s event was all inclusive, and this year’s is, too.

“At Take Back the Night, people are in a safe and wel­coming environment,” Pilnick said. “They’re in a place where they can tell their story and they’re not going to be victim­-blamed.”

The rally and march around campus should have a blue hue to it — on that same day anoth­er sexual assault awareness month event takes place: Denim Day.

Denim Day is in reference to an Italian Supreme Court decision where a judge over­turned a rape conviction, he said, “ because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans, it was no longer rape but con­sensual sex.”

The month’s event also will include Violence-Free Zone workshops being offered for the first time to students. The workshops teach students how to han­dle situations where a victim needs help.
Sexual assault awareness month comes at a time when there have a been a half dozen sexual assault reports on campus during the past few months — several were assaults on women by acquaintances while others were so-called “groping” incidents by a stranger.

Pilnick said she’s not sure if there are more sexual assaults occurring on cam­pus or perhaps more women are reporting. She said sexu­al assault has historically been one of the most under-reported crimes. The stigma associated with being a vic­tim of sexual assault, Pilnick said, can prevent women from coming forward.

Working to end violence against women doesn’t take place just during sexual assault awareness month. In fact, Pilnick said she recent­ly did a presentation specifi­cally geared toward athletes that dealt with sexual assault and other issues, and asked men to show support for women. About 300 men attended.

Sexual Assault Awareness month events:

• “Violence-free zone” work­shops, 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Ostrander Auditorium at Minnesota State University. Come learn what to do when someone needs your help.
• Take Back the Night, 5 p.m. April 15 on the MSU mall by the fountain (if raining, event will be held in Ostrander Auditorium.) The event begins with a rally at 5 p.m. followed by a march around campus. The structure is open mic and anyone can speak at either the rally or any of the march’s stops.

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