The University of Maine student newspaper since 1875
About Us
Contact Us
Staff
Donate
home
News
Opinion
Style
Sports
Archives
Print Edition
Last updated: Thursday, May 24, 11:59 a.m.
Style & Culture |

Take Back the Night sheds light on sexual abuse

The Maine Campus | The Maine Campus
By Laila Sholtz-Ames
Posted on Oct. 08, 2009, at 2:10 a.m.

Students, faculty and community  members carrying messages of hope, heartbreak, healing and forgiveness lined the University of Maine mall outside the library Tuesday to pay tribute to victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Nearly 200 people attended the Safe Campus Project sponsored event and listened to stories about sexual assault. Orono State Representative Emily Cain gave a keynote speech.

Take Back the Night is a national event to raise awareness about sexual assault and violence against women.  The name came from a 1977 memorial read by Anne Pride at an anti-violence rally in Pittsburg.

The event consisted of a rally followed by a march and a candlelight vigil. Many wore purple ribbons or T-shirts in support of victims.

Organizations like UMaine’s Safe Campus Project, which deals with domestic and sexual violence, work to make sure that stories of victims do not go unheard. Angel Shaw, a rape response worker, spoke about the organization.

“Sexual assault really happens more than we like to think,” Shaw said.  “I’m not big on statistics because I really believe that one person affected by sexual assault is one person too many.”

The Counseling Center and the Mabel Wadsworth Center came out in support, offering brochures, posters and pens depicting information and stories from past victims.

Katie McCarthy, who works with Spruce Run in Bangor, said people must “really work on changing the culture so that we tolerate abuse. We’re all going to work together to do what we can and by speaking up and saying violence is not OK.”

That message was echoed throughout the night, both in speeches and songs by the female a capella group Renaissance. The group sang songs including Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” and The Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

Former Renaissance member and UMaine graduate Rep. Emily Cain took the stage to share her thoughts about sexual abuse.

“One of the best things we can do to make us safer is to not be afraid to talk,” Rep. Cain said.  “When we talk, we are breaking down that silence, and we are helping those victims to not be afraid, to not be ashamed.”

Rep. Cain also encouraged students to go out and have conversations with friends and partners about domestic and sexual abuse.

The event ended with stories from victims and a candlelight march around campus. October marks Domestic Abuse Month.  For more information on Sexual Abuse, contact Carey Nason with the Safe Campus Project.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009, 2:10 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.

«
»
  • http://www.letgoletpeacecomein.org Gretchen Paules

    The Let Go…Let Peace Come In Foundation is a newly formed nonprofit with a mission to help heal and support adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse worldwide. We are actively seeking adult survivors who would be willing to post a childhood photo and caption, their story, or their creative expressions to our website http://www.letgoletpeacecomein.org. We need to “show” the world that we will no longer be silenced and that there are enough of us to make a difference. By uniting survivors from across the globe we can help provide a stronger and more powerful voice to those survivors who have not yet found the courage to speak out. Together we can; together we should; together we NEED to stand up and be counted. Please visit our site for more details on how you can send us your submissions.

    Thank you for everything you do!

    Gretchen Paules
    Administrative Director
    Let Go…Let Peace Come In Foundation
    111 Presidential Blvd., Suite 212
    Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004

  • http://www.sprucerun.net Kati McCarthy

    Thank you so much for covering Take Back the Night, and for including the beautiful picture of Spruce Run’s clothesline project. I also appreciate your quoting me. I do want to clarify that we are working on changing the culture so that we DO NOT tolerate abuse. Obviously this was a typo in the article, but an important distinction, nonetheless.