Women's group to 'Take Back the Night'

T-minus-3, and counting. Today is the first day of Countdown Week, an effort by women's advocacy groups from around the University -- under the auspices of the Penn Women's Center -- aimed at increasing awareness of sexual violence, especially on college campuses. Countdown Week will conclude Thursday evening with a Take Back the Night march and speakout, directed toward women who have been victims of sexual assault and their friends. The march will follow the perimeter of campus, going from Hill House to the Quadrangle and then from Superblock down Locust Walk to College Green. It will be conducted by candlelight, symbolically making dark areas of campus safer for women. Beginning today, members of campus advocacy groups, such as the National Organization for Women, the Women's Alliance, the Panhellenic Council and the Feminist Collective, will be handing out purple ribbons on Locust Walk to draw attention to their cause. According to University NOW President Mary Jane Lee, the ribbons are designed to promote knowledge of violence against women and encourage actions to prevent it. "On different levels, we feel [the march] is important this year," the College sophomore said, referring to the use of rape as a weapon in Bosnia and the rash of sexual assaults on campus last fall. "The basic premise [behind the march] is very simple: women don't feel safe walking along the streets at night by themselves," she added. In addition to the ribbons, there will be a chicken-wire sculpture in the shape of a female symbol on the Walk all this week, Lee said. White ribbons will be available for students to tie onto the sculpture, with each symbolizing a sexual assault that has affected a student or someone he or she knows. Take Back the Night marches happen on campuses around the country, and have been notably strong at Columbia University, said University NOW Vice President Negin Noorchashm, a College sophomore. Although a march was tried at the University in 1989, it did not become an annual event due to a lack of student interest and unified support from women's groups. Planning for this year's march began last semester, Lee said. "Crucial work" has been done in the past two months, with most of the campus women's group's becoming involved over the last month. "We feel this is something that should be done collectively," she added. College sophomore Bett Schumacher, an Alpha Chi Omega sister and chairperson of the Panhellenic Council's Women's Issues Committee, agreed. "Panhel is the biggest campus women's organization in terms of numbers," she said. "Every chapter I hope is going to participate [in the march] -- it's for every woman, and not just for different, specialized groups." Noorchashm added that the march is essential to promoting their cause. "[A march] is necessary at a campus in a big city like Penn, to increase awareness of the sexual violence that goes on around here," Noorchashm said. "I think it's a big problem and we hear less than what actually happens." While the University's NOW chapter is not SAC-funded because it is a political organization, Noorchashm said members hope to make Countdown Week and the Take Back the Night march annual events. The Offices of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Health Education and Student Life, Activities and Facilities are helping to underwrite the costs of the activities this year, Lee said. "I really hope that [the march] raises awareness on campus and shows everyone that the people on this campus are concerned about these issues and are doing something about them," Noorchashm said. "I don't think people realize how much sexual violence goes on," she added. "Hopefully, this will open everyone's eyes."

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