Take Back the Night hosted a march Thursday night to raise awareness for and speak out against sexual assault.
Take Back the Night — which is a national organization with a chapter at the University — hosts a week of events, including the march held Thursday.
“Take Back the Night as a larger national organization is just talking about sexual assault, sexual violence against women and also sexual violence against anyone,” Katie Schneider, Take Back the Night march and rally chair and second-year College student, said.
Schneider said the University’s chapter of Take Back the Night is run under the Sexual Assault Leadership Council, which is a broader CIO that helps in organizing the week-long events.
The march began at Brooks Hall, where a group of about 20 participants marched down the Lawn to the Amphitheater for a poetry reading, rally and resources presented by the Women’s Initiative, Green Dot, Shelter for Help in Emergency and the Dean of Students.
Schneider said the march was scheduled to be after sunset so the message of the event would be more powerful.
“[Marching at night] is actually very symbolic of what we are marching for that night — U.Va., quite literally, taking back the night,” Schneider said.
First-year College student Kezia Lozano and first-year Engineering student Bethany Spangler, both first time march attenders, said they found marching down the Lawn while chanting rallying cries to be very powerful.
“Walking down the Lawn, hearing the echo, having people high-five me and cheer back made me feel like U.Va. really cared,” Spangler said.
Both Spangler and Lozano disclosed with permission that close family members were victims of sexual assault or rape, which motivated them to come out tonight.
“I have a cousin who was in a questionable situation, so it's a close thing to my family so I thought I should come out,” Lozano said.
Schneider said one of the most important features of Take Back the Night is that it reaches out to a number of different types of sexual assault survivors.
“Take Back the Night is a very unique organization in that it really provides a space for recognition for a lot of stories that aren’t told about sexual assault,” Schneider said. “We very much recognize and acknowledge the struggle of queer survivors, of male survivors of sexual assault, tons of survivors of sexual assault — so it’s really engaging and not just an organization about violence against women.”
Spangler said she appreciated the event but wished there had been a higher turnout from the University community. Lozano said the march addressed important issues and created a sense of solidarity.
“I feel that it brings [out] important issues tonight, and I told my friends, so the word will get around,” Lozano said. “As long as we’re visible, we’re here.”
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