UVa Students "Take Back the Night"

Updated: 7:06 AM Apr 10, 2009

About 50 people marched through the streets of Charlottesville Thursday night to raise awareness of the problem of sexual violence. "Take Back the Night" was designed to give a voice to survivors, while encouraging others to take steps to prevent sex crimes. Organizers of the event say sexual violence is problem that impacts everyone.

Posted: 11:36 PM Apr 9, 2009
Reporter: Matt Holmes
Email Address: matt.holmes@wcav.tv

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Thursday April 9, 2009

About 50 people marched through the streets of Charlottesville Thursday night to raise awareness of the problem of sexual violence.

"Take Back the Night" was designed to give a voice to survivors, while encouraging others to take steps to prevent sex crimes. Organizers of the event say sexual violence is problem that impacts everyone.

"It's men and women and it crosses all socioeconomic backgrounds. It's not like it focuses on one group," says Caitlin Donaghy, who organized a rally in Lee Park before the Thursday night march. "Sexual violence is rampant in our society and our attitudes towards sexuality in general in our country makes it very difficult for people to talk about it."

The march ended with a candlelight vigil at the Ampitheatre on grounds where survivors of sexual violence got the opportunity to share their stories.

What do you think about events like this? Do they serve a worthy purpose? We invite your comments.

To hear from some of the participants in the march, click on the attached video link.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Stephen Location: charlottesville on Apr 11, 2009 at 07:57 AM

That sounds like a great event for survivors of rape. However, many nights you go downtown toward the Corner at UVA and you see people so drunk and obliterated by alcohol from the bars that anything can happen. I've seen a couple intoxicated females get hit by cars, get back up and start walking to their dorms/apartments. I think the "Take Back The NIght" event should be more than just about Rape, how about safety precautions, methods of avoidance, and how not to be a complete idiot and go out by yourself and get hammered and not remember how you got home. Some UVA students obviously have a lot of growing up to do if they think something isn't going to ever happen to them while $100 of alcohol is in their system. UVA schedules their classes so that students aren't out until 2am for class for a purpose. Break the silence surrounding the issue(s) not just AN issue of rape.

Posted by: Meghan Location: Charlottesville on Apr 10, 2009 at 11:44 AM

Events like Take Back the Night are vital for educating our community about the very real problems of sexual assault, intimate partner violence and rape that affect our own community. Studies have shown that 1 in 5 UVA women is raped while at UVA, but the lack of reporting leads to the belief that this number is higher. In general, studies show one in four women and one in ten men are sexually assaulted or raped. Taking under-reporting into account, those numbers are more likely one in two women and one in six men. We need to break the silence surrounding this issue so we can begin to change the underlying discriminatory power structures that plague our society and lead to rape. It is not okay for anyone to be raped. No one is ever "asking for it" or deserves sexual assault, despite what we wear, where we go, what time of night we go out, who we invite into our homes, who we have sex with, what kind of sex we have, and who we are. We all deserve a right to the night and to our bodies.

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