Women march to 'take back the night'

About 150 men and women turned out on College Green to voice their support for women's rights. Holding candles to symbolize hope and chanting "University Silence Perpetuates the Violence," about 100 students marched across campus last night to protest sexual assault and the harassment of women. The march was one of several events in Penn's sixth annual Take Back the Night, a rally to raise awareness and support against rape, sexual violence and sexual harassment. "[The goal of the rally] is to give a voice to the victim survivors and raise support and education about sexual violence," said Penn's National Organization of Women Co-Chairperson Erin Healy, a College junior and one of the event's organizers. A large symbol of the female covered in white cloth set the background as the evening began on College Green, where around five speakers challenged the nearly 150 male and female students in attendance to break the silence and take back the night. "Let us draw strength from one another," said NOW Co-Chairperson Kimberly Junod, a College junior and an organizer of the event. "Someday women will come together to celebrate their freedom" from fear of sexual violence, Junod said. Norah Feeny, director of the Rape and Crime Victims Program at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at MCP Hahnemann University, delivered the keynote address to the assembled students in front of the Peace Sign. Feeny focused her speech on trauma, defining it as "events that are life-threatening or threatening to bodily integrity." Over 50 percent of the U.S. population and 70 percent of women will have to deal with a trauma in their lifetime, Feeny said, explaining that trauma includes crimes as well as accidental incidents. With regard to sexual assault, Feeny continued, one-third of women are victims of childhood sexual assault, while 20 percent of women -- or one in five -- will be victims of rape some time in their lives. After all the event's speakers left the podium, the students in attendance -- far fewer than in past years -- lit candles and prepared for a march around campus. Organizers provided no reason for why the event had such a lower turn-out this year. Originally, the event's organizers had decided that men could not march with women, arguing that the march should be a chance for women to gain strength from solidarity. Since its founding in 1976 in San Francisco, the event has traditionally been designed as a rally for women, with men banned from marching. About one-third of those in attendance at the speaking portion were male and at least three of the men joined the march this year. Healy said that while there will always be men who wish to march with the women, "the important part is to keep the focus of the march on women." "I think it's more important to unite and support on this issue than to be divided on politics," Healy said. The march began and ended at College Green, winding its way around the Quadrangle and the western end of campus. The students shouted defiant chants against rape and sexism that rang out into the night, such as "Penn Unite, Take Back the Night," "Yes Means Fuck Me, No Means Fuck Off" and "We're Here, We're Women, We're Fabulous, Don't Fuck With Us." After the march, the Survivors' Speak Out took place on the Green, with victims -- both men and women -- sharing their stories of assault and healing with the crowd.