Despite the cold wind blowing on their faces, Ohio University students and Athens community members marched through the streets holding signs and shouting chants addressing the problem of sexual violence.
The annual Take Back the Night rally and march began in Baker Center where speakers shared their experiences with sexual violence and encouraged audience members to take action.
Jan Griesinger, who organized Athens’ first TBTN event in 1979, shared her experiences and quoted Holly Near’s song, Fight Back.
“We’ve got to fight back … I can’t make it alone,” Griesinger said. “Fight back in large numbers, together we can make a safe home.”
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s 2015 Campus Sexual Assault Fact Sheet, one in five women and one in 16 men have been sexually assaulted on college campuses.
Being sexually assaulted can lead to stigmas being formed against the victim, Hannah Burke, the senator for women’s affair commission for Student Senate, said.
“We wanted to show solidarity with all the people who are affected by this,” Burke, a sophomore studying political science, said. “We wanted to show that you’re not alone and that (sexual assault) is not OK.”
After the rally, participants took to the streets and marched around campus holding signs that read “Public Space = Safe Space” and “Nobody is ‘asking for it’ EVER.” Onlookers cheered and honked their car horns in solidarity as the march passed by.
This year was Tess Balsley’s second time participating in the event. Despite the cold wind, Balsley, a sophomore studying sociology, said the march made her feel exhilarated and “warmed up.”
“It’s really important to bring light to the issues on campus lately,” Balsley said. “Especially with how many rape cases have been brought forward, it’s important to show that students care about it and are willing to fight for the rights of survivors.”
There have been seven rape reports filed since the beginning of Spring Semester, according to a previous Post report.
The march ended with a “solidarity clap” by the participants at Baker Center.
“It’s 2017,” Burke said. “(Sexual assault) is a really disgusting thing that should not happen anymore.”
