Take back your right

Take Back the Night began as an attempt to recognize the fear and anxiety that women face when they walk alone at night.

UB's SBI Health Education is hosting its annual Take Back the Night event to spread awareness and prevent domestic violence and sexual abuse.

The theme for October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month is empowerment. Take Back the Night is a campus and community-wide event that offers support for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

According to SBI Health Education Assistant Director Nicole Sweeney, the event is a tradition celebrated internationally by organizations and schools since its launch in Philadelphia in October of 1975.

According to the national Take Back the Night website, citizens of Philadelphia rallied together after the murder of Susan Alexander Speeth, a young microbiologist who was stabbed by a stranger a block from her home while walking alone at night. The event reached over 2,000 women, representing 40 countries, in its first year, hosted in the streets of Philadelphia in 1975 and in Brussels in 1976.

Each organization chooses how it wants to plan its respective event.

"There's not a script as to how Take Back the Night needs to look, because it means so many things to different people," said Jane Fischer, SBI Health Education director.

Some organizations plan their event in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. However, UB chose to host the event during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

"Statistics show one in four college women are sexually assaulted in their college career," Sweeney said. "It happens a lot; however, it's not reported."

The official opening event for Take Back the Night began on Wednesday with a showing of the documentary "Finding Angela Shelton." The story follows director Angela Shelton on her journey to find women with her name who coincidentally share the same experiences of abuse that plagued her childhood.

The official UB Take Back the Night event will take place on Wednesday at 105 Harriman Hall on South Campus at 6 p.m.

The event will feature the Royal Pitches, UB's women's a cappella group, who will perform songs exclusively for the event. Katelyn Murray, president of UB's Domestic Violence Task Force, will be the featured speaker of Take Back the Night.

Once the festivities end, the microphone will then be turned to the audience, and anyone affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse is welcome to "speak out."

The "speak out" portion of the event becomes the most intimate and powerful part of the night, according to many attendees. SBI Health Education hopes that silent victims will realize that it is never too late to address their incidents.

According to the Dating Violence Resource Center website, 88 percent of victims of sexual abuse report the violence to a friend, but only 20 percent report the incident to the police.

"[The speak out] is any words of support, concern, empowerment especially, about reclaiming non-violence in relationships and ending sexual violence and anything in the culture that feeds sexual violence," Fischer said.

Kristina Onishchuk, a sophomore legal studies major, believes that high profile cases of domestic violence among celebrities have helped bring awareness to the issue. However, the frequency of domestic violence does not justify the crime.

"It's not acceptable under any circumstances," Onishchuk said. "Problems should be discussed through words, not through violence."

The centerpiece event of Take Back the Night is a candlelit march down Main Street led by UB's Korean Folk Art Club drumming group.

"A lot of people light candles," Fischer said. "The darkness represents shame or the fear and the candle shines through."

All attendees are encouraged to wear purple in an effort to "Go Violent Against Violence" on Wednesday.