UA News

Several student groups have coordinated "Take Back the Night," an annual awareness event, at the UA on April 15.

Sexual assault is more prevalent than people realize and affects not only victims, but their families and friends.

At the University of Arizona, several student organizations and campus units are working together to raise awareness about sexual assault while educating people about ways to prevent it.

With April being national Sexual Assault Awareness Month, "Take Back the Night," will show support for assault survivors.

Organizers said the April 15 event, which begins at 6 p.m. at the UA Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, is intended to show that assault will not be tolerated.

"I think a message we want to get out is this is an issue that impacts people we know and love," said Lori Van Buggenum, program director for the Women's Resource Center. 

Thursday night, participants will walk through campus with plans to pick up people along the way. The march will end at the main stage on the UA Mall with a resource fair and a tabling event with information about services and resources. 

Also, survivors, musicians, poets and other guest speakers will share their experiences. The keynote speaker is Sheronda Jordan, a forensic examiner coordinator with the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault.

"Awareness is power, and when we're out raising awareness, we're changing the climate here on campus," said Erin Strange, the violence prevention specialist with the UA Oasis Program for Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence.

Strange said consent will be a major focus this year, particularly discussing how to clearly give consent, how to ask for it, and how to recognize it.

The event also will create a safe environment for victims and their supporters – men and women – to speak out.

Strange, one of the main planners for this year's event, said it can be difficult to compile complete statistics for sexual assault and other violent crimes on campus and nationwide because the crimes are highly under-reported.

According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, high school and college-aged women are four times more like to be the victims of sexual assault then the general population, and about 60 percent of all rapes and assaults are never reported.

"Sexual assault is a lot more prevalent then people would expect it to be," said Karen Johnston, a UA sophomore studying business who volunteered for the event. 

She and Strange were participants in prior Take Back the Night events before becoming planners for this year's event. Both recalled their experiences as empowering. 

"It's just a really powerful feeling you get when you leave these events. Listening to the survivors speak out, it makes you realize why you're there," Strange said.

Johnston said events such as Take Back the Night are an important way for communities and individuals to speak out and send the message that violence against men and women must end.

"It was really moving to be part of something bigger than myself," Johnston said, noting that last year was the first time she'd attended a Take Back the Night event.

This year, event organizers will be on the UA Mall Thursday and Friday with the Close Line Project, a display of T-shirts designed by participants.

Everyone is welcome to make T-shirts with anti-violent messages that will become part of the collection. T-shirts created in the past told stories, while others had messages like "Real Men Don't Hit" and "Love Not Shove."

The shirts are anonymous and act as a safe way for someone to get a message out while encouraging people to ask questions and learn more about the event. Some of the shirts are on display in the Student Union Memorial Center basement outside the Cellar Bistro restaurant and will remain there the rest of the week.

Van Buggenum said there are many ways to get involved, from volunteering as an advocate to planning events.