Forty years strong in our community, Take Back the Night is an international event hosted by locales and groups across the globe. This march, rally, and candlelight vigil calls for an end to sexual and intimate partner violence in our community and world. The event supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and child sexual abuse, and their allies to speak out and be heard.
Take Back the Night traces its roots to the early 1970s when students on college campuses, feminists , and concerned citizens in major cities marched, rallied, and spoke out against issues surrounding violence against women. In the following decades, community-driven, annual events under the banner “Take Back the Night” began, often in partnership with local sexual assault groups and advocacy agencies like ours. Take Back the Night amplifies the message that you are not alone, we believe you, it is not your fault, you and your story matter, and there is space and support for you. With this in mind, our organizing collective chose the 2019 theme “Light Out of Darkness.” To the collective, Light Out of Darkness conveys hope, creates an inviting tone for Take Back the Night, emphasizes empowerment, builds awareness, and opens conversations. On that note, Take Back the Night is about creating a platform for all survivors and victims of the many forms domestic and sexual violence can take. We shine the light to acknowledge that people of all genders, races, nationalities, classes, abilities, sexual orientations, ages, religions, identities, and affiliations are impacted. This is a human issue that impacts everyone. That said, it is important and empowering to notice and address the differing ways some people and groups are disproportionately affected, including women, women of color, indigenous communities, people with a disability, and members of the LGBTQ community. Visit RAINN, National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and The Center for Disease Control for more information. While our community and society have shifted and changed in the past 40 years, with more public acknowledgement of and conversation about sexual harassment and violence, we have critical, transformational work still to do. Take Back the Night is a moment, a movement, and a platform for this work. It is about acknowledging the whole picture, a time for putting our attention on the darkness of the past, illuminating the light of the present, and setting our intentions on a future that is possible where everyone is safe from harm. Join us on April 26th with marches leaving from Cornell University, Ithaca College, and GIAC downtown locations to a rally and speak-out at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the commons 7-9pm, and candlelight vigil. Together we’ll shine the Light Out of Darkness to demand and actively create the future we want to see. |
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