Students weren’t shouting “OU, oh yeah!” on the streets of Athens Friday afternoon. Instead, chants of “Blame the system, not the victim” and “Two, four, six, eight, stop the violence, stop the rape” could be heard Uptown.
New student social change organization, F--kRapeCulture, organized a rally and a march to combat rape culture at Ohio University. The rally and march began at McCracken Field and went through Stewart, Mill and Court streets before ending at College Green.
“We wanted to hit some of the streets where we have encountered the most problems,” said Claire Chadwick, co-founder of F--kRapeCulture and a junior studying sociology, in a previous Post article.
With a crowd of nearly 100 protesters, the march spilled into the streets. Often times slowing traffic, especially when the crowd paused in certain intersections and marched against traffic on Court Street.
“We weren’t expecting this big a turn out,” said Allie Erwin, a senior studying political science. “It was not feasible to stay on the sidewalks.”
One police officer tried to guide the crowd more toward the sidewalk and while most of the crowd complied, many began chanting, “Off the sidewalks, into the streets.”
Several participants opted in the invitation to wear what they felt comfortable in, including being topless. Others were mostly topless with only a certain piece of clothing, like a muffler hat, to cover their chest — an option Caitlyn Rack decided to partake in.
“It is my right to do so,” said Rack, a sophomore studying studio art.
Girls weren’t the only ones who went topless. Chase Davis, a junior studying philosophy, also chose to march without a shirt to draw attention to the fact that females are not the only victims of sexual violence. While he said he didn’t want to try to draw attention away from that issue, David said he wanted to raise awareness to the imbalance that exists.
While Erwin and others spoke via megaphone to the crowd at College Green, Sydnee Hosler, a senior studying for a Bachelor of Specialized Studies, recalled her own instance of sexual violence. Hosler wrote “I see him everyday” on her stomach to literally explain how she sees her attacker every day.
After the rally, Hosler said she would like to join F--kRapeCulture because many of the group’s goals is to change the policies at OU, policies Hosler said worked against her in her case.
“Wherever we are, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no,” the protesters yelled while walking up Mill Street.
mg986611@ohiou.edu
@buzzlightmeryl
