Take Back the Night fights violence

Yearly peace gathering to features poetry, speeches

By Courtney Roque

Members of the campus community will gather tonight for Take Back the Night, an event to spread a message of peace and reclaim the nights that have too often been consumed by acts of violence, especially against women.

“What Take Back the Night is doing is giving one night to empower men, women, children and families and let them know that, as a community, we’re not going to tolerate violence against anyone,” event coordinator Deborah Napoleon said.

The evening's events, which will begin at 5 p.m. at the Peace Garden, include a candlelight vigil and a rally featuring several speakers. The program will also include expert speakers in the field of violence and crime, university officials and survivors of violence.

Information tables from student groups and victim’s services organizations will be offering educational material on how to respond to violence.

Immediately following the rally, attendees will be invited to take part in an awareness march, beginning at the Peace Garden and going partway around the campus before ending at the USU South Patio, where refreshments will be provided. An open microphone session is planned for after the march, providing a forum for anyone who wants to participate by speaking, reading or performing based on the Take Back the Night theme.

“This year, we decided to integrate cultural diversity,” Napoleon said of the guest speaker lineup, which includes Fresno State professors and students. Some of the speakers will talk about domestic violence and sexual assault within specific cultures, such as the Japanese and Indian cultures, and the characteristics that distinguish them from one another.

“Many people think that if rape, or any other type of violence, doesn’t happen to them, then it doesn’t happen at all—and it does,” said Gabriela Rodriguez, president of Women’s Alliance, one of the organizations co-sponsoring Take Back the Night. She said a common misconception is that violence only happens to women, but, in reality, men get raped and physically abused, as well.

Melissa Knight, a women’s studies instructor at Fresno State, has encouraged her students to attend Take Back the Night as a way to raise their awareness about the world around them.

“Students need to have a connection with not only what’s going on around campus, but also with issues that face women on campus specifically,” Knight said.

Take Back the Night has historically been about empowering women and increasing awareness about safety on campus in light of the violence that has taken place here, Knight said. It is a demonstration of what the Fresno State community can do to take back the night by making the campus safer and building awareness about all different kinds of violence locally.

Take Back the Night rallies and marches originated in England as a protest against the fear that women had about walking the streets at night, and the first event of its kind in the United States was held in San Francisco in 1978. Take Back the Night has been an annual event at Fresno State for more than 20 years.

“Every year it gets bigger,” Rodriguez said. About 400 men and women attended last year’s event, and even more are expected this year.

Francine Oputa, coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center, said the reality is that it’s not safe for women, in particular, to walk alone at night, but it should be. She said Take Back the Night is an attempt to change that by bringing together people who have the common goal of raising safety and heightening awareness about acts of violence.

“It’s not set up as a fear tactic,” Napoleon said of the event. “It’s a sign of unity of uniting the community to say this is one night we’re going to walk freely, without fear.”