NC State community supports survivors of sexual assault at Take Back the Night

The Women’s Center hosted Take Back the Night on Tuesday evening in support of sexual assault survivors on campus. The program began at 6:00 p.m. in Talley Student Union with speakers from the Women’s Center, the Counseling Center and The Movement, a student organization that educates peers on interpersonal violence and other advocacy efforts.

Take Back the Night is an annual event that is a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The event’s purpose is to honor and listen to victims of sexual assault, as well as to create a safe environment around campus.

Carlyn Wright-Eakes, rape prevention education coordinator at the Women’s Center, described what she believes is the purpose of this event.

“Take Back the Night is an event here at NC State that is meant to amplify the voices and stories of survivors,” Wright-Eakes said. “So it is not only meant to bring awareness to the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses and on our campus, but also to showcase some of the efforts of some of the groups… and then also to bring our community together to support survivors in a space that is healing, loving and kind. We want to create a space where survivors can share their stories.”

Following the opening ceremony, student leaders led the attendees on a march across campus, making their way back to the Currituck-Hatteras Ballroom for a Survivor Speak Out. The Survivor Speak Out gave supporters the chance to listen to the stories of sexual assault survivors.

Wright-Eakes spoke about the importance of listening to these stories as a way to spread awareness of sexual assault, as well as to help survivors begin to heal.

“I think any moment to bring the community together and to bear witness to the stories and histories of survivors is important in whatever form it comes in,” Wright-Eakes said. “Take Back the Night is one example of a way that we are able to do this within our community. It is important to build awareness and also to give people a space to share so they can start healing.”

Marina Hughes, a first-year studying women’s and gender studies and international studies, and Joselyn Villasenor, a fourth-year studying sociology, volunteered at the event.

According to Hughes, Take Back the Night illustrates a growing frustration with the high prevalence of sexual assault.

“I think it says our generation is tired of dealing with this stuff and we are not going to just accept it,” Hughes said. “We are actually trying to make life fair and equal for everyone. We need to try and make this campus safer, especially for the people that are more targeted, there needs to be more protection for them.”

Villasenor spoke about the influence that events like Take Back the Night have on tearing down society’s stigmas surrounding sexual assault.

“I think there should be more awareness on the subject and events like this destigmatize what is going on and can hopefully create some change,” Villasenor said. “I think there is a certain level of frustration and we are just tired of these incidents continuing to happen. We just hope to make a difference.”

Aasta Thomas, a fourth-year studying English with a concentration in film studies, attended the event to show solidarity for the campus’s sexual assault victims.

“I am here for two reasons,” Thomas said. “One, I am a mentor with the Women of Welch, so we are campus partners with the Women’s Center and we are here to support our great partner and show that we care about them and we care about this issue. Then on a personal level, I am here because I deeply care about the issue of sexual assault in our country.”

Thomas hopes that Take Back the Night will help show the NC State community that the university cares about this issue and that victims of sexual assault are not alone and have the support of their peers.

“[Sexual assault] is always an issue, but especially now, we are sort of in a zeitgeist where this is a key issue and we are starting to finally make progress,” Thomas said. “We are getting a lot of public recognition in the past couple of years… I really hope [this event] will set the tone of the culture at NC State. We need to let new people know that we know this is not okay, we support you and we support victims of sexual assault.”

*Editor’s note: the headline has been updated for accuracy.