TAKE BACK THE NIGHT
Bridgewater State University
April 2012
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
1 out of 4 women will experience domestic
violence in her lifetime.
Females between the ages of 20-24 are the
most likely victims of domestic violence.
1 out of 6 American women have been
victims of attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. (14.8% completed
rape; 2.8% attempted rape.)
7% of girls grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in
grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
One of the first known “Take
Back the Night” events occurred in Belgium over thirty years ago with a
candlelight procession of over two thousand women from 40 different countries united under one purpose; to stop the perisisten and widespread violence against women. Since this time events have been held in Rome, Germany,
England, Australia, India, Canada and the United States in response to the
continued abuse and sexual assault of their female population. The Take Back
The Night Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in 2001 with a
mission “to end sexual violence in all of its forms including sexual assault,
sexual abuse, dating violence, and domestic violence. TBTN empowers survivors
in the healing process and inspires responsibility in all. The goal of TBTN is
to create safe communities and respectful relationships through awareness
events and initiatives”. (TBTN
Foundation, 2009, p. 2).
Author
Mark S. Homan in his book “ Promoting Community Change; Making it Happen in the
Real World” suggests three things that can help empower people;
confronting the injustice; bringing similarly affected people together; and
raising awareness of the injustice so that people who are in a position to do
so, can take action. (Homan, 2011) Three key components of a Take Back The Night Foundation Event parallel his ideas; rallies and speak-outs where audience members can tell their stories; marches through the neighborhood or community to raise awareness; and a keynote speaker who is typically a well known and influential community member. Allowing individuals to tell their stories is a form of confronting their perpetrator, which in turn aids in the healing process. The bringing
of people together creates a network of support clearly acknowledging that “we
are in this together”. There is strength in numbers. Finally, these events are a
venue for people to take action and bring the issue of violence against women
out into the open, raising awareness in the community.
Shatter the Silence Stop the Violence
References
Brown, M. J. (2009). Building
community. In Building powerful community
organizations; A personal guide to creating groups that can solve problems and
change the world (pp. 335-348). Retrieved from http://plato.bridgew.edu/@@F49E12DBEF01BFD8BF191A14480B79C0/courses/1/SCWK43256/content/_676233_1/Brown-Chapter%2012.pdf
Homan, M. S. (2011). Relating
community change to professional practice. In Promoting community change; making it happen in the real world (5th
ed., pp. 74-95). Retrieved from http://plato.bridgew.edu/@@F49E12DBEF01BFD8BF191A14480B79C0/courses/1/SCWK43256/content/_676228_1/Homan-Chapter%203.pdf
Take Back The Night
Foundation. (2009). TBTN Foundation event
guidebook. Retrieved from http://www.takebackthenight.org/TBTNEventGuidebook2009-12-14.pdf
It is nice to see the facts of domestic and sexual violence up front in your post. It makes you think about how many women are affected by domestic and sexual violence before you introduce your cause. The Take Back the Night Foundation information was easy to read and informative. Great correlation between Holman’s (2011) perspective on how to empower people and the key components of Take Back the Night Foundation.
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