This Thursday night, don’t be surprised if you see a group of people walking around with signs that say “Take Back the Night.”
They will be marching across the campus as part of the “Take Back the Night” campaign, which works to raise awareness and fight sexual violence, specifically against women.
The march is part of the larger “Take Back the Week”, which includes various workshops throughout the week, as well as a series of lectures, a march, rally
For the first time, the event will include a symposium that will educate on the prevention of campus sexual assault.
The University of Rhode Island, specifically the Women’s Center and L.I.V.E., or the Leaders in Interpersonal Violence Education (formerly known as P.L.E.A.S.E.), has been putting on the event for several years. However, this year’s event is slightly different.
URI has been designated as one of the “10 Points of Light” by the national Take Back the Night Foundation. Ten universities were chosen nationwide to be a “Point of Light.” URI will work to “identify, highlight, and provide resources to,” according to URI Women’s Center Director Penny Rosenthal.
“This event is much bigger than it has been,” said Rosenthal, crediting former P.L.E.A.S.E. Coordinator Hannah Woodhouse for applying to be a point of light last year. “In addition to the march, rally and celebration afterwards, [we have] the symposium for the awareness and prevention of sexual violence. We’ve not done something like this before, and I’m really excited about it.”
The events are part of a larger campus and nationwide movement to combat sexual assault, which has historically been a problem on college campuses. According to a study done by the National Criminal Justice Service in 2007, one in five college-aged women nationwide are victims of sexual assault or attempted
URI is no exception to that, according to Shannon Lynch, a master of social work intern for the University, and Sarah Raakjaer, an international graduate intern from Denmark.
Raakjaer, who is here for the semester but has been to the University in the past, said that she is concerned by the amount of sexual assault on campus.
“It’s an extreme amount of violence that is happening right now, I would say,” she said.
According to Clery Report data from 2018, there were 38 sexual assault cases reported to the University between 2015 and 2017. However, the actual number is probably higher, according to Lynch and others in the Women’s Center.
Lynch recently conducted a satisfaction survey with survivors of sexual assault on campus.
“The overall theme of the satisfaction survey [was that] sexual assault was being underreported, poorly responded to or covered up,” she said.
The groups planning the “Take Back the Night” event are hopeful that it will raise awareness of campus sexual assault. This acknowledgement, according to Rosenthal, is “the first step to addressing a problem.” While raising awareness and educating the campus community are goals of the event, Rosenthal mainly hopes that it will encourage people to take action
“Mainly what I’m hoping is accomplished is people wake up and say ‘Oh, what are we doing?’” Rosenthal said. “‘What do we need to do?’ And then also raise their hand and say, ‘How can I help?”