More than 100 women participated in the Take Back the Night rally and march yesterday - with men supporting them from the sidelines.
Take Back the Night is an annual weeklong series of events to raise awareness about sexual assault and abuse in Athens.
We still have one in three women sexually victimized. This is a statistic that we need to prevent and work against. One in three assaulted
that's someone you know... I don't like that at all said Liz Herron, commissioner of the Women's Affairs for Student Senate, which organized Take Back the Night.
This year, Ohio University students and Athens residents had debated before the march whether men should leave the sidelines and join the women in the streets. None of the speakers at the rally specifically prohibited or encouraged the men to join in the march, keeping the same policy Take Back the Night has had since its inception 31 years ago.
Roger Jones, a sophomore studying sports management, organized the sideline crew.
We are here lending support from the sidelines. There are men fighting against this - women are not alone. This is a men's problem too Jones said.
The march began at 9 p.m. and lasted 30 minutes, beginning with a silent candlelit walk down Jefferson Hill. The group snaked through East Green, climbed the steps of Baker University Center and continued Uptown.
Ed Zelaski, a senior studying broadcast journalism, held a sign aloft and shouted encouragement to those in the march. He said males should not participate.
I don't think there should have been any controversy. I'd be here either way... Men own the night already
there's nothing to take back
Zelaski said.
Title IX, an OU women's a cappella ensemble, opened the rally before the march. Keynote speaker Johanna Orozco, an activist against sexual assault and a former victim herself, followed the chorus, saying that sexual assault is often trivialized.
A lot of people didn't take me seriously - a lot of people don't take it seriously - but domestic violence is a real issue... In a relationship
don't settle. You shouldn't be treated well most of the time
but all of the time
Orozco said.
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