Women gather enforce

to Take Back the Night
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

Roughly one in four college women in the United States experience attempted or completed rape during their college career, statistics show.

On Tuesday night, the women of Appalachian State University and the surrounding community gathered in an effort to end sexual violence at “Take Back the Night,” an annual event held at college campuses nationwide.

ASU’s event was hosted by the campus and Boone area chapters of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and OASIS (Opposing Abuse with Services, Information and Shelter).

Take Back the Night is a two-part event, composed of a rally and then a “speak-out,” which gives survivors of sexual violence a forum to tell others about their experiences.

This week’s rally began at the Duck Pond Field at ASU.

Attendees marched down Rivers Street and over to King Street, chanting and waving signs.

The chants included “However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no.”

The marchers also encouraged men to join in the movement, which has traditionally been viewed as solely a women’s issue.

They chanted, “Men join the fight, take back the night.”

Passersby and other pedestrians showed their support by honking their car horns, shouting out windows and some even joined the march.

At the speak-out portion of the evening, participants spoke about their experiences with sexual violence.

Eva Hyatt, NOW faculty director and event organizer, said the march served to bring the community’s attention to sexual violence, but the speak-out was the most important part of the evening.

“It’s important that it not be kept silent,” Hyatt said. “If it’s kept quiet, it becomes worse.”

Stephanie Taylor, another event organizer, said when victims talk about their abuse, it causes a type of “domino effect."

“It makes it OK for other women to talk about their experiences,” she said.

Sexual violence is often called a “silent epidemic,” in that it is one of the most underreported crimes.
Take Back the Night is just one of the local events to be held throughout April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

All month long is the Teal Ribbon Campaign, which encourages people to wear teal-colored ribbons to raise awareness about sexual violence.

The documentary “Searching for Angela Shelton” will be free to view online all month at angelashelton.com/media under the “Searching” tab.

April 23 is the 10th annual Denim Day USA.

The day is a project of Peace Over Violence, a sexual violence prevention and education campaign that raises community awareness about the impact of sexual violence and how to prevent it.

Supporters are encouraged to wear denim on April 23 to help raise awareness. For more information, visit denimdayla.org.

Tuesday, April 29, is Angela Shelton Day.

OASIS will be holding events on campus, giving survivors an opportunity to participate in Shelton's Report IT Campaign by reporting their abuse.

The campaign features an anonymous online reporting system to gather the occurrences of sex crimes.

For more information and to report, go to reportitnow.org.