By Holliday Woodard
Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of rape and sexual assault.
The sun, reflected through white shirts hanging on a clothesline, projected students’ messages of solidarity and defiance in an effort to break the silence around rape culture.
On Wednesday, April 18, Campus Advocates Respond and Educate to Stop Violence (CARE) hosted their annual Take Back the Night event on McKeldin Mall in honor of sexual assault awareness month.
“I may never have gotten justice for what you did to me but I will spend my life making sure that people like you get what they deserve,” read one of the t-shirts hanging along the trees of McKeldin Mall.
On either side of the exhibit, there were yard signs that had a trigger warning for students who were walking around campus unaware of the event. The phrases written on each shirt caused many students to reflect.
“It kind of floored me because it felt like it had so much power. I really liked it [the t-shirt] because also I personally have interest in being a prosecutor. I would like to get justice and give people what they deserve. So when I read that shirt I felt like I had a solidarity moment with whoever wrote that,” said Natalia Isabal, a participant in the event.
Take Back the Night is an extension of the Clothesline Project that occurs biannually. Each table at the event focused on a different part of rape culture, according to Christina Jay, the coordinator for advocacy and therapy for CARE.
The first table gave participants the opportunity to write down their own definition of rape culture. The second table outlined examples of rape culture in pop culture. The last table was the speakout section, giving students an opportunity to express their thoughts by making t-shirts and bracelets.
“I have made about a quarter of a bracelet where each of the beads represent different colors surrounding survivor support or being a survivor yourself. I think this is a good way to show that you support survivors without explicitly saying it if you’re not comfortable with it,” said Damiana Colley, co-president of Preventing Sexual Assault (PSA), a student-run organization on campus.
PSA works closely with CARE, mutually supporting the events that each organization hosts. Both organizations target sexual assault awareness and prevention because of their prevalence on college campuses, according to Anna Gerstein, co-president of PSA.
26.4% of females and 6.8% of males on college campuses experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN).
“Events like this are just being able to educate yourself, but also read about the resources and meet other people who have similar experiences to you, and also meet people who just support and care about this issue,” said Gerstein.
Featured image: A student reads the message written on a yellow shirt while attending “Take Back the Night” — an event promoting sexual assault awareness. Photo by Holliday Woodard.