“Take Back the Night” is an event intended to address and protest women’s fear of walking alone in the streets at night.
The roots of this event may have originated in the 1800s, when women protested the violence they experienced at night on the streets of London. Others say the first rally actually occurred in 1976 in Belgium, where women who attended the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women lit candles and marched the streets to condemn the continuation of violence against women, according to the Take Back the Night website.
On Thursday, the Feminist Organization Reclaiming Consciousness and Equality will be hosting “Take Back the Night” at Cal State Long Beach to protest the threat of sexual violence, raise awareness of sexual violence to the community and to let students know about the resources that are available to them, including education about the realities of sexual violence, according to Justine Schneeweis, a senior political science and English major and chair of FORCE.
“I think that every bit of knowledge and consciousness gives you power, so it empowers those whose awareness it raises and hopefully ignites the desire to help put an end to sexual violence,” Schneeweis said.
The event will start off with a rally at Maxson Plaza at 7 p.m. where guest speakers will talk about sexual abuse. The speakers include Jeffrey Klaus, director of Student Life and Development, Yuisa Gimeno, a Chicana activist and organizer for Los Angeles Radical Women, and Shira Tarrant, professor of women’s studies at CSULB.
“I think it’s important that we all speak up and speak our conscience,” Tarrant said. “When we see other people do this, it gives us courage to stand up ourselves and it’s important to me that I’m a part of that process. I am speaking at ‘Taking Back the Night’ in order to address the issue of preventing men’s sexual assault against women and preventing all forms of sexual assault.”
The event will proceed with a candlelight vigil and a march through the dorms and across campus. The march will end at the Soroptomist House, where survivors of sexual violence will have the chance to speak out in a safe environment about their experiences. The speakers will be facilitated by the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency (SACA) in order to feel more comfortable.
“It’s extremely important for survivors of sexual violence to have a supportive and secure outlet to voice their feelings and experiences and reclaim what was once taken from them,” Schneeweis said. “Even if survivors choose not to speak out, I think hearing other people’s experiences is empowering and can help the healing process.”
Marina Wood, a senior women’s studies major, board member of Women’s Studies Student Association (WSSA) and a SACA facilitator, will be attending the event as she did the previous year.
“We all have the same issue, not feeling safe being a woman,” Wood said. “This is our night to take back and to take control … It’s empowering.”
Erin Hale, also a WSSA board member and a senior women’s studies major, will be attending the event for the third year to support not only the event, but the survivors as well.
“We want to create a bigger presence to not only support the survivors but also to show the community that we will ‘Take Back the Night,’ ” Hale said. “Last year I brought my cousin to share with her my activism; it was really empowering.”
The event will conclude at 10 p.m. with a performance by singer Angie Evans.