Part of Take Back the Night is the great groups and individuals involved! Each individual and group often has a unique reason for participating in the event and what the event means to them. A group that has been very involved this year in the collective and Take Back the Night is the Cornell and Ithaca Catholic Community. I sat down with Dave Holmes, Campus Minister at Ithaca College, to discuss their participation in the event and in the collective. How did you become involved with TBTN? Social justice is a very important aspect of faith. Through becoming involved with TBTN we hope to bring attention to a topic—Domestic and Sexual Abuse, that is often ignored or brushed under the rug. We hope to help bring education, prevention and support to our community! How does the Catholic Community and/or the Interfaith Community act as a support system for survivors? We like to think of the religious community on campus as a support system for everyone. As a community we like to support each other and think of one another as a “family away from family.” This week in mass we are announcing our involvement in Take Back the Night. We are hoping that this may inspire those who need support to come to us if they need help currently or in the future. We also run a Men’s Retreat which focuses on what it means to be a “man” in today’s society and the issues surrounding violence. We hope to bring up the issues of domestic and sexual abuse in future retreats because these issues are not women’s issues, they are everyone’s issues. As you know, this year’s TBTN theme is Justice and Advocacy. What does Justice mean to you and your community?
From the Catholic Church Perspective, justice often means forgiveness. If you are a survivor, forgiveness to yourself, you are not to be blamed for your experience. If you are a supporter, perhaps forgiveness to yourself if you feel like you did not do all you could to help the survivor. Justice to us also means protecting those who need help supporting and protecting themselves. Comments are closed.
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