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2 — Wednesday, April 7, 2021
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ANN ARBOR
Take Back the Night rally seeks to raise
awareness of sexual violence, calls for action
Event returned in-person for 43rd annual protest on behalf of survivors
On an unseasonably brisk
Thursday night, Take Back
the Night Ann Arbor — an
organization
dedicated
to
advocating for survivors of
sexual violence — hosted its
43rd annual rally April 2 to
educate community members
on sexual violence and to
encourage action.
About 50 student volunteers
and
community
members
donning purple “Take Back
the Night” sweatshirts and
bundled up scarves and mittens
formed
a
loose
semicircle
before the steps of Hatcher
Graduate Library to begin the
rally. A Youtube live stream
of the event was also made
available to allow visibility for
those unable to attend due to
COVID-19 restrictions.
Pam Swider, Take Back the
Night Ann Arbor community
leader, told the crowd that
this year marks her 13th year
running the annual rally and
march. As a survivor of sexual
violence
herself,
Swider
is
also the founder and executive
director of Standing Tough
Against Rape Society.
Swider works directly with
University
Students
Against
Rape,
an
organization
on
campus
aimed
at
raising
awareness of sexual assault
and violence through rallies,
marches
and
prevention
events. She was also involved
in acquiring a city permit to
march Thursday evening amid
the
pandemic
and
ensured
COVID-19 safety precautions
were followed by volunteers
and attendees.
“I
started
becoming
so
concerned
because
I
knew
how it was affecting survivors,
especially
those
who
have
to spend the pandemic with
their perpetrators, or around
people who have no idea how
to
support
them,”
Swider
said in an interview with The
Michigan
Daily
before
the
event.
According to a Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
report, one in five women
and one in 38 men experience
completed or attempted rape
in their lifetime in the United
States. The report also found
that one in three women and
one in four men experience at
least one incident of some form
of sexual violence in their lives.
26.4%
of
undergraduate
women experience rape or
sexual
assault,
according
to the Rape, Abuse & Incest
National
Network.
Swider
said
marginalized
groups,
such as people of color — in
particular Black women — and
the LGBTQ+ community need
allies and supporters in the
fight against sexual violence.
“We
need
to
use
the
privileges that we have to
speak when they can’t,” Swider
said. “We need to let them
know that they are not alone.”
Because
of
the
intensification of sexual and
domestic
violence
against
women during the pandemic,
Swider
said
she
found
it
incredibly important to try to
make this an in-person event
after last year’s virtual rally.
Considering how quarantine
and physical isolation have had
a negative impact on domestic
violence in the past year due
to individuals being forced to
stay home with their abusers,
Swider said Take Back the
Night Ann Arbor decided on
the theme “take action” for
this year.
Recent
University
alum
Emma Wellman was a student
leader who helped organize
this event, ensure distancing
guidelines were followed and
raise funding for the speakers’
equipment.
Though adjusting to the
pandemic was a challenge,
Wellman said she was proud of
the adaptability and progress
she made alongside her team
members
throughout
the
past year to successfully put
together a safe in-person rally.
”What I’m most proud of
is
everybody
really
came
together,” Wellman said. “My
biggest hope is just that people
feel really empowered.”
USAR
student
leader
Kaitlyn Colyer, LSA junior,
said adjusting to a virtual
environment
and
in-person
restrictions this year required
a lot of planning on how to still
make the event impactful.
“This issue very much still
matters,” Coyler said. “We’re
seeing it in the news today that
sexual violence is something
that happens to everyone, and
it doesn’t matter your identity.
So it’s important to us that
we’re uplifting survivor voices
and also making them stand
against what’s going on.”
Nicole Denson, event MC
and
MOSAIC
Collective
Consulting,
LLC
founder,
spoke to the crowd about
how Take Back the Night has
become a global movement
to
raise
awareness
around
the
prevalence
of
sexual
violence while also providing
a forum for survivors of sexual
violence.
Denson
said
she
still
remembers
her
first
Take
Back the Night when she was
a student at Michigan State
University,
which
helped
launch her passion for activism.
“I saw people being brave
and
speaking
their
truth,”
Denson said. “And from where
I came, that was something
that I could only dream about.
And that was the start of my
activism.”
Ann
Arbor
Mayor
Christopher Taylor also spoke
at the event, saying that the city
plans to declare a proclamation
that says April will now be
Sexual
Assault
Awareness
Month in Ann Arbor.
“We
support
survivors
everywhere,” Taylor said. “We
(want to) ensure that those
who choose to come forward
are treated with seriousness
and
compassion.
Sexual
harassment and violence by
men burdens and devastates
the lives of women and girls
and children every single day.”
Karasten Birge, also on the
STARS board of directors,
explained
how
her
own
experiences
as
a
survivor
inspired her to help create
the new program “Sweaters
for Survivors,” which donates
comfortable clothes and other
personal care items that will
then be provided to examiners
to give to survivors to wear
home.
Birge shared that after she
was sexually assaulted, she
was brought to the hospital and
asked to provide her statement
multiple times, making her
uncomfortable.
“I
was
given
disposable
scratchy
hospital
scrubs,”
Birge said. “I had no bra or
underwear. It would be nice
for a hospital to be able to
give
survivors
something
warm
to
put
on
like
a
sweatshirt, sweatpants, new
undergarments
and
a
care
package with soap, toothbrush
or toothpaste. Those are the
little things that are big things
after going through something
so awful.”
STARS is partnering with
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor in
Washtenaw County and Avalon
Healing
Center
in
Wayne
County to create “Sweatshirts
for Survivors.”
“This will give them back
some dignity and grace they
so desperately deserve after
making that brave choice to
just get justice for the violence
that was committed against
them,” Swider said.
The rally’s keynote speaker
was feminist author Jaclyn
Friedman,
who
shared
a
prerecorded
Zoom
message
about her experiences with
advocacy and gave advice to
the
audience
on
authentic
leadership and activism for
survivors.
“We want to be really, really
clear about something (about)
being a survivor,” Friedman
said. “It doesn’t obligate you to
anything. So, you don’t have to
do or be any kind of way to be a
valid, important survivor who
is worthy of love and justice
and care.”
Friedman also said there
are many ways to help uplift
sexual
violence
survivors,
specifically finding a smaller
sub-issue that is more feasible
to tackle. She gave advice on
how to effectively take care of
mental health concerns that
come with a sensitive topic like
sexual violence.
“It’s so important for all
of us to make time to rest for
healing for self-care, yes, but
also community care when
we take care of each other,”
Friedman said. “We all grow
stronger together, rest and heal
and take care of each other and
ourselves.”
Armed with bucket drums,
megaphones and homemade
signs, students and community
members first marched west
on South University Avenue
towards State Street. Police
in
cars
and
motorcycles
bookended
the
protestors,
flashing blue and red lights.
Students took turns leading
chants, such as “What do we
want? Safe streets! When do we
want it? Now!” As the crowd
began turning north on State
St., another chant rang out:
“However we dress, wherever
we go, yes means yes, No
means no!” When the march
reached
Williams
St.,
the
crowd held a moment of silence
for victims of sexual assault.
Afterward,
the
protestors
resumed chanting ”2,4,6,8 No
more violence, no more hate!”
When addressing the crowd,
Swider discussed what she
hopes participants take away
from the rally.
“We
hope
that
we
can
educate you and inspire you,
empower you,” Swider said.
“And for those of you who are
survivors, let you know that
healing is possible and that you
are never alone.”
Daily
Staff
Reporters
Nina
Molina and Nirali Patel can be
reached at nimolina@umich.
edu and nirpat@umich.edu.
NINA MOLINA &
NIRALI PATEL
Daily Staff Reporters
Courtesy of Nirali Patel
PHOTO