Schedule of Events

Women of Athens will come together this week for the 28th annual Take Back the Night with a series of events meant to empower women and educate participants about the dangers of sexual assault.

“Everybody has certain rights, and women need to know what to do if someone tries to take those basic rights away,” said Lee Robbins, Women’s Affairs Commissioner for Ohio University Student Senate and a junior journalism major. “We want to educate people on how to handle these types of events if it should happen to them.”

Take Back the Night marches take place nationally and in countries all around the world. It takes a variety of forms depending on the march’s location. Some events focus on themes such as violence against children or violence in general, while others, such as OU, focus on violence against women.

This year’s theme at OU is Know Means Know: break the silence, end the violence.

The week centers around the Take Back the Night Rally and March on Thursday. The march will start at 7 p.m. on West Portico, Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

The march will begin with a silent vigil in memory of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Participants then will rally through each of the college greens as well as around Uptown to raise awareness for these issues.

Approximately 75-100 women attended the march last year, and Take Back the Night coordinators are hoping either to match or surpass that number this year.

The week kicks off today with Sexual Assault 101: What Men and Women Need to Know. This presentation about legal and personal ramifications of sexual assault will be at 4 p.m. in Baker University Center Rm. 231.

“Unfortunately, everybody probably knows somebody that has been assaulted,” Robbins said. “It’s an all too common problem that we want to bring more to the public eye.”