Students to 'take back the night'

Abuse survivors will speak on College Green tonight during the annual rally. The annual "Take Back the Night" rally will be held tonight, concluding a week-long series of events focused on violence and sexual abuse against women. The rally, part of a national program, will be held for the seventh time at Penn tonight, with a march across campus followed by a survivor speak-out on College Green. Since attendance hit an all-time low last year, organizers have tried to revamp this week's program with more activities, such as panel discussions and workshops, and more advertising, including a supplement in The Daily Pennsylvanian. The rally will begin at 6 p.m. with keynote speaker Elena DiLapi, director of the Penn Women's Center, speaking about violence against women. Organizer Craig Abbs, a research coordinator in the School of Social Work, said the goal of the event was to "raise awareness that this is a problem that is extremely common." He also said the issue is particularly relevant to college students. "College age students from ages 18 to 23 -- they are at the highest risk [of sexual violence]," he said. He also said that 30 percent of college women and 16 percent of college men are victims of some sort of sexual violence. The violence against women rally will be followed by a march and a discussion group. A separate rally will be held specifically against sexual violence, where Sally Brown, a local community activist, will be the keynote speaker. This will be followed by a speak-out, in which victims and survivors are invited to talk about their trauma and recovery. Professional crisis counselors will be present throughout the speak-out. "It is very intimidating to talk about something so personal," Abbs said. But he said he hoped "Take Back the Night" would create an environment in which women and victims of sexual violence could be comfortable sharing their experiences and receiving support. DiLapi said she hoped the rally would "create a campus that's intolerant of sexual violence." She also said that some of the topics addressed would be wife battering, dating violence, acquaintance rape, harassment and childhood sexual abuse. She said the speak-out "was created as a place for empowerment for survivors" and to "honor the courage of survivors." She added that she hoped both men and women would come out to show their support and relate their stories.

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