On Friday night, BU’s Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism hosted a Take Back the
Night rally and march. The point of Take Back the Night is to break the silence surrounding sexual assault, and to bring attention to the rape culture which permeates our society.
At 7 pm, approximately 200 students and faculty members gathered on the BU Beach to hear keynote speaker Megan Andelloux, also known as Oh Megan (http://ohmegan.com/), give a speech entitled “It All Starts With an Orgasm.” Megan bravely discussed her own experience with sexual assault, and the way she has come to grow past it.
Following this talk, there were speeches and skits about what does and does not qualify as consent. Did you know, for example, that you are legally unable to give consent if you are under the infuence of drugs or alcohol? This topic was followed by speakers about being a bystander to street harassment and assault.
Around this time, candles were distributed and lit. The darkening night was filled with
flickering flames as three survivors of sexual assault took the stage and told their stories. They set the tone for small group discussions, which involved groups of people, led by representatives from The Center, standing in circles and sharing personal experiences. The idea was for survivors to break through society’s insisted-upon silence regarding issues of sexual assault.
Many survivors feel ashamed of what they have been through because of society’s tendency to blame victims for actions which were forced upon them. This leads to many assaults being unreported, and survivors feeling like they have nowhere to turn for help. The purpose here, then, was to give survivors a safe space where they could talk and feel supported by a community.
Sasha Goodfriend (CAS ’14), Activism Coordinator for The Center, said “The best part of the event was everything we didn’t and couldn’t plan, like the speak outs. After planning it for so long and getting caught up in the details it was really cathartic to be reminded of why TBTN is so needed! We had a self-re?ection after and everyone said that their speak outs were all really powerful, because people that you wouldn’t even expect would share stories.”
After the speak out section, the group marched around BU’s campus, carrying signs and candles, ending up back at the BU Beach for a celebration, open-mice session and a performance by The Bostones.
Goodfriend was pleased with the turn-out at the event, saying, “We were really happy that there was such a diverse representation of the BU community. It was really validating and empowering to see so many people come out to support survivors of sexual violence.”
Take Back the Night began in Philadelphia in 1975, as a reaction to a woman being stabbed by a stranger walking home alone at night. It has since grown into a movement that has a presence all over the U.S., as well as in Europe, Australia, Canada and India. In light of the disturbing statistic that 75% of sexual assault survivors know their attacker (a rate which rises to 90% on college campuses), the movement now focuses less on making being out at night safe for women, and more on the broader goal of enlightening people to the prevalence of sexual violence.
Erin Power (SAR ’14), who attended the rally, described it as “incredibly powerful,” and said the event “made the reality of sexual violence that young women face extremely tangible. It was almost shocking to me how many of my peers here at BU had their lives impacted by sexual violence.” After all, there is a big difference between reading the statistic that 1 in 6 women in the U.S. will face rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, and standing in a group of people and hearing how many step forward with stories of assault.
For more information about the Take Back the Night movement, visit http://
www.takebackthenight.org/