Phong Ly / The Collegian
Students, faculty and community members gathered together Wednesday evening at the Free Speech Area on campus for Take Back the Night, a violence awareness event.
“Take Back the Night is a national event that has been going for many years,” said Women’s Resource Center Coordinator Jenny Whyte. It has been held at Fresno State for 31 years, she said, and was organized by the Women’s Alliance club along with the Women’s Resource Center.
Whyte said Take Back the Night’s original focus was to discuss the violence directed towards women, but now it has expanded to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse, elder abuse and abuse in gay and lesbian relationships.
Every year there is a different theme to create awareness for the cause.
“This year’s theme is self-defense and assertiveness,” said Take Back the Night Program Coordinator Dawn-Marie Luna. “[Violence] happens most often with people you know and relationships you have encountered on [a day to day basis], so that is what’s different from last year.”
It’s unfortunate that they need to plan this event every year, said Karina Lopez, president of Women’s Alliance Club.
“But [this event] happens every year because the violence continues,” she said. “It continues happening and continues to hurt not only women, but it hurts men, it hurts children of all ages and all races.”
Lopez also said violence affects everyone, whether it’s sexually, physically or emotionally.
The event had informational tables from campus, community organizations, professional speakers, personal testimonies, poems and music.
The Director of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute, Francine Oputa, opened the formal event with a speech. She told the crowd that one of every four women will experience domestic violence in their lives, and one of six women will have been victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.
“It’s dangerous to be a girl,” Oputa said. “You can change this, but not if we keep silent.”
Another speaker who talked about the importance to fight against violence was the keynote speaker, Irene Zupko, who works with a private investigator and is a certified domestic violence advocate.
“If we are going to break the cycle of violence in our communities, we need to start with information and education,” said Zupko.
Sgt. of University Police Department, Jennifer Corwick, was another speaker who joined the event to talk about the services offered here on campus to fight aggression against women.
Corwick is the instructor of the Rape Aggression Defense class and has taught the self-defense course for eight years.
In this class, women are taught how to defend and protect themselves, and how to avoid dangerous situations.
Corwick also said that there are over one hundred emergency phones on campus that students can use for emergency calls, and safety escorts are available as well if they need them.
After the formal event, there was a candle light vigil and a rally in which people took signs and marched throughout campus. Then they came back to the University Student Union where they provided an open mic that gave people the opportunity to share their own stories their reactions to the event.
Mass communication and journalism major, Erica Hernandez, 26, was one of the students who gave her testimony of domestic violence in her family and emotional abuse in her personal life.
“I feel that it was effective; I am hoping that somebody in that crowd that may be going through what my parents went through understood [my message],” Hernandez said.
Whyte said it’s the most powerful part of the event because it usually touches people’s lives and some of them disclose their stories for the first time.
Freshman student Sheyla Slagle, 18, said it was her first time attending this event.
“It was really interesting just the way that everybody got up and talked about different statistics, how people shared their stories of what they were involved in and how affected it them,” Slagle said.
Graphic design major, Mario Gomez, 18, was another student attending for the first time who not only liked it, but found it very beneficial.
“It makes you think you should be a better person, you should listen more, you should pay more attention to other people and your surroundings,” Gomez said.
He also added that a person can make the difference and even save someone’s life by paying a little bit of attention to others.
The event ended with a survivor medallion ceremony in which survivors of violence received a medallion and were honored for their courage.
“This is one of those events that every student needs to attend at least once during their college career,” Whyte said. “It’s very moving and can change the way they see people.”