This year’s Take Back the Night at Fresno State will emphasize sexual consent — a theme that has been recently affected by new state legislation that requires affirmative consent to have sex.
Take Back the Night is organized by the Women’s Alliance and has taken place on the Fresno State campus for the past 35 years. It is a rally held throughout the United States to raise awareness about sexual assault, domestic abuse and violence against women. This month, it will be celebrated in honor of Domestic Awareness Month.
“I think it is an important issue that affects everyone regardless of gender or race or background, period,” said Krysten Cherkaksi, president of the Women’s Alliance and the coordinator for Take Back the Night.
The event will take place in the Free Speech Area today at 5:30 p.m. Organizers will offer information to help encourage people to educate themselves on sexual consent.
This year’s theme focuses on sexual consent because of California’s recent passing of the “yes means yes” legislation. The slogan is, “Consent: nothing less than a sober yes.”
“Consent is based on intent. Your intent to perform a sexual act if not communicated clearly cannot derive consent,” said Dr. Greg Thatcher, a Fresno State public health professor. “So how do you adequately gain consent from a person? The only way to adequately get consent from that person is to get a verbal yes.”
Thatcher said that the law encourages more students to be more communicative in their sexual lives.
“I teach a human sexuality class, and it’s really difficult for students to ask, ‘Hey do you actually want to a have sex with me?’” Thatcher said. “It’s just not done in our society, and so the idea of consent is, ‘I want to have sex with you, do you want to have sex with me?’ That communication does not take place.”
The event will include an informational fair where people can learn about both on- and off-campus resources available to them. Speakers at the event will include students and faculty who will share their experiences and opinions.
That will be followed with a march around campus and an open mic session where victims can share their stories.
“I think it’s something that affects more people than most recognize, and even if they don’t necessarily feel like they have a personal stake in the issue, it’s an opportunity to become more educated and kind of promote solidarity in the community and help to empower survivors,” Cherkaski said.