Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Take Back The Night Week Fights Violence Against Women

Take Back The Night Week Fights Violence Against Women

By Tina Morin Hoya Staff Writer

Beginning Monday, Nov. 9, and continuing through Friday, Nov. 13, the annual Take Back the Night Week, through a series of events and functions, will aim to educate students about the problem of violence against women.

Co-sponsored by the Alliance for Women’s Empowerment, the Women’s Center and Sexual Assault Services, the week will include various programs and workshops centering on different aspects of violence against women and will focus on the theme “Opening the Dialogue.”

According to Erin Kemper (COL ’01), one of the three co-chairs organizing the event, the goal of the week is “to open the communication between men and women in order to raise awareness and educate people about violence to women and how we can put an end to it.” She also said that this week will be a time to celebrate survivors and to show that they are strong and that the movement to end violence against women is moving forward because of their strength and because of the support and participation of concerned students.

Kemper said the introduction to the week will be onday’s Open Mike Night that will feature poetry and music. ary Folds, another co-chair, said organizers asked participants at the Open Mike Night to perform pieces that focus on violence against women and surviving such violence. Contributing to the night will be the Grace Notes, who, Folds said, will sing songs that reflect women’s empowerment issues.

On Tuesday, Kemper said, students will be offered the choice between three workshops, one on sexual harassment as it applies to students and their everyday situations, one focusing on childhood sexual abuse and one concerning violence against women and how it affects men.

Folds said that a performance piece will be given on Wednesday by Veronica Golos, a poet and professor from New York City, who will read some of her own poetry. According to Folds, Golos will try to weave her poetry into cohesive thoughts stressing survival and ending with a final note of hope.

On Thursday, there will be a forum entitled, “Violence against women doesn’t discriminate,” Kemper said. She said that the forum is intended to create a dialogue between members of different campus communities by showing that violence can happen to everyone, not just people from specific groups. Representatives from the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, from AYUDA (Spanish for “help”), from My Sister’s Place, a District shelter for women suffering from domestic violence, as well as Bonnie Moriss, a Women’s Studies professor at Georgetown, will be present at the forum, Kemper said.

Nancy Cantalupo, head of the Women’s Center, will facilitate the event, Kemper said.

Finally, on Friday there will be a rally, a march and a speak-out at 6:15 p.m. in Red Square, Kemper said. According to Kemper, the culmination of the week will be the speak-out, where survivors of domestic violence and other violence directed at women along with others who participated in the week’s event will have the opportunity to talk about their thought on the events and violence in general. Kemper said that in this safe and open environment, many women who have suffered from violence will often speak about their experiences for the first time.

At the rally, Bonnie Campbell, the director of the Justice Department’s Violence Against Women Office, Rachel Cornwall, who completed a study on the violence of American military men against women in Asia, and Melinda Charma, a sexual assault survivor, will speak on issues of violence and sexual assault.

Kemper said the march would include a walk around the M Sreet area in which participants symbolically “take back the night” and “show they are not afraid.” Cantalupo said that “their goal is to raise awareness and to educate the campus about domestic violence against women, to provide a forum for survivors and to end the silence surrounding domestic violence.”

Cantalupo added, “I think it’s a very important issue for many reasons, and I hope a very diverse population of students will find at least one, if not many things that will appeal to their interests, their experiences, and the issues that are important to them.”

Donate to The Hoya

Your donation will support the student journalists of Georgetown University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Hoya