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Activists participate in the "Take Back the Night" march to South Park on April 29
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Missy Minear/KANSAN
For survivors of assault and sexual violence, nighttime can represent a dark and dangerous space. But on Thursday night, students took to the streets, shared their stories and spoke out against sexual violence, rape culture and victim blaming at "Take Back the Night."
"It came from the sexual assault movement to address the fact that we don't feel safe at night," said Rachel Gadd-Nelson, director of community engagement at the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center. "And we are going to take up space and we are going to take back the night in a way that will kind of rally the community together against sexual assault."
Gadd-Nelson said Take Back the Night is a national event and has been happening in Lawrence for several decades, although the operation has switched hands a few times over the years. Starting with the Willow Domestic Violence Center, it was later run by the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, and in recent years has been taken over by the Care Center.
The night kicked off in the plaza outside the Kansas Union with a satirical, musical performance by Jenn Freitag, a sexual violence educator and activist. Her solo performance piece, entitled, "I Want My Jacket Back," spoke to her personal experiences with sexual violence, as well as sexuality and gender identity. Freitag tackled each topic with a bit of mirth, sarcasm and plenty of vibrato.
After Freitag's performance, students and community members marched from the Union to Lawrence's South Park on Massachusetts Street. Waving rainbow flags and holding signs, the group of about 50 people marched down 12th Street chanting phrases such as, "Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes, no means no" and, "We have the power. We have the right, the streets are ours, take back the night."
"One of the reasons I started writing songs was because I needed a little bit of lightness," Freitag said. "I needed a way to think about these issues that didn't make me feel terrible about the world. And I think I still kind of feel a little bit terrible about the things that are going on in the world, but also, I find there is something about singing silly songs about gender and about these kinds of things, that invites some more conversations about these issues in a little bit different kind of way."
Caitlin Crawford, a senior from Lawrence and a marcher at Take Back the Night, said she feels the event is about reclaiming a space she's currently excluded from.
"I just think it says the nighttime is a place for everyone," Welch said. "My friends always tell me, 'Don't walk through the parking lot,' but why shouldn't that be a place that I'm allowed to be, and it should be a place that you're allowed to be."
Although the march had been omitted in past years, Gadd-Nelson said they decided to bring back the tradition last year in light of recent events on campus.
"That was really intentional," Gadd-Nelson said. "We wanted to bring campus and community together, knowing last year - it was April of 2015 - we had spent the whole year with all the student activism, all the increased focus. So we thought that it was not just a way to wrap up Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but also just wrapping up the year, saying, 'It's been a really hard year,' for survivors."
We have the power. We have the right. The streets are ours. Take back the night."
Annie Lacy, a senior from Kansas City, Kan., was another marcher at Take Back the Night. She said she thinks speaking about nighttime and sexual assault is particularly important in a town like Lawrence.
Take Back the Night participant chant
The march from the Union ended in South Park where individuals were able to meet with local sexual assault prevention organizations and hear from student leaders.
Kynnedi Grant, a junior from St. Louis, spoke to the crowd about the emotional difficulties surrounding her own experience with assault, and her work as a co-founder of the social justice student group Rock
"I think it says a lot that we're doing this in a college town," Lacy said. "There's a lot of us, a lot of us going out at night, it's like a party-town type deal, you want to feel safe when you're walking home, and you don't want to drive home after you've been drinking."
Chalk Invisible Hawk.
Grant said after becoming somewhat of a public figure due to her advocacy work, she has faced an onslaught of doubt and criticism. She said in many instances of abuse, one of the most traumatic experiences for a survivor is victim blaming.
"Something in assault, of all forms, that we often overlook is the second assault," Grant said. "And what that second assault includes is victim blaming,
people challenging you, people questioning the feasibility of the things that you expressed that have happened to you, people that will discuss your character and challenge your character, and challenge your integrity, and really do anything to dehumanize you because they feel entitled to your space and entitled to your story."
After speaking publicly about her assault at the Nov. 11 Town Hall Meeting, Grant said she felt trapped, overwhelmed and worthless.
"Something that Take Back the Night has inspired me to believe is that you don't owe anyone anything," she said. "I say this is much easier said than done, but you should only allow people to have space and take some of your
"Feeling like if I had just kept my mouth shut, I wouldn't be here," she said. "That it was me who caused all of the commotion, me who spoke out against the system, me that challenged folks. But the reason I challenged was that I genuinely believed we could all do better."
Grant said recovering from her assault and the doubt surrounding it has been a difficult road, and that the best thing survivors can do is find people who have their best interests at heart.
Grant wrapped up by telling the audience to focus on conserving themselves and left them with one parting piece of advice.
"Your self-worth is tangential, only tangential to the way people speak about you, what people think about you," Grant said. "And there are very few people who have the privilege of truly knowing who you are."
energy if they are genuinely willing to reciprocate it."
ence members gathered in a candle-lit circle where they were able to confidently share their own experiences with assault and sexual violence.
After the campus events over the past few years, Gadd-Nelson said she thinks many people are afraid the conversation around assault and sexual violence will fade away, and that Take Back the Night gives people the opportunity to keep the conversation rolling.
After Grant's talk, audii-
Junior Mercedes Bounthapanya, left, and sophomore Kimberly Mai march down 12th Street as part of the Take Back the Night march to South Park.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
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"So I hope that folks will feel like they have a voice and can get involved and that this is still relevant," Gadd-Nelson said. "It's not just, 'Oh we fixed it, now we're good.' It's something that we're going to have to work at."
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