Take Back the Night
/A large number of students and faculty marched through the StFX University campus on 22 October to raise awareness about gender-based and sexual violence and to send out the message that it is important to stand together and know that support exists. The annual "Take Back the Night" march, sponsored by the WMGS society, urged the participants to bring a phone or flashlight to "shine a light on sexual violence" and raise awareness about it. The goal of the "Take back the night" was to ensure that we eliminate sexual violence at the University and in all of our communities. It was all about reclaiming the night and the space that is associated with gender-based violence.
A book "Sexual Violence at Canadian Universities" says at least one in four women attending college or university will be sexually assaulted by the time they graduate. It sends chills down the spine of anyone to think how something as simple as walking back to the hostel or your apartment in the night is not safe
It was heartening to see that all the participants adhered to social distancing norms and other restrictions due to the pandemic. A poster-making session was also organized by the StFX Women and Gender Studies Society before the rally.
Photo by Addy Strickland
Sarah Elliott, StFX Students’ Union President and Catherine Kennedy, the sexual violence prevention and response Advocate were the MCs for the night. The senior leadership at StFX wanted to attend the rally but were unable to do so because of an emergency senate meeting that was scheduled at the same time as the rally. However, their message was shared with the crowd and I would like to state it here because I think these were very powerful and impactful statements, statements through which we can hold them accountable. It stated, “Sexual violence has been invisible for far too long. We thank and commend the visible @ X team, the StFX Student’s Union, and the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, and the Sexual Assault Services Association for their leadership tonight for making the invisible visible. We know that you or someone close to you has been impacted by sexual violence, whether a sexist joke, derogatory comment about one’s gender, or an act of sexual assault. Sexual violence results in serious short and long term negative consequences for individuals, communities, and societies. At StFX, we know that in the past, some experience of sexual violence were not disclosed often because the person was trying to forget about it, felt it was a private matter, or wasn’t serious enough, thought it was their fault, or didn’t think anyone would help. It is serious, it is not your fault, and we will help, StFX has zero tolerance for sexual violence of any kind….”.
A number of resources are available at StFX such as the StFX Health and Counselling Centre and the Visible @ X Team. Off campus resources include the Antigonish Women’s Health Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association, the Naomi Society. The crowd also raised a huge round of applause to Heather Blackburn, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Advocate, who is instrumental in making the event possible.
Addy Strickland, the coordinator of the Peer Support Program as well as the Arts Section Editor also addressed the rally. Addy is a fourth year Honours student in the Department of Developmental Studies and is studying how we can use art and community to forward social change. Addy has been heavily involved in the sexual violence prevention and advocacy on campus and in her speech she provided details of the support being offered by the Peer Support Program at StFX, which is functional in-person this year at Bloomfield 417, Monday-Friday 12-5 pm.
Addy and Emma Kuzmyk realized the gaps in our campus’ mental health and sexual violence support services and spent a year and a half, building, researching, and convincing administrative members and Students Union that the program was necessary ad a valuable addition to student wellbeing on campus. Addy says that, “It took a lot of convincing.” But finally resulted in the appointment of the Sexual Violence and Prevention Advocate, Heather Blackburn and the start of the Peer support program.
The rally was also addressed by Carla Stevens, a Mi'kmaq woman, and a mother of three amazing daughters. She is the project coordinator of the Circles of Support project. She asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence to honour all the women victims of sexualized violence. She said: “I challenge you as students and scholars to no longer be by-standers and to take a stand against gender based and sexual violence in your community and university.”
Last but not the least, Emma Kuzmyk who has worked for Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, VP Academic for Student Union in 2019 and is a co-founder of Peer Support Program, said: “Not everybody gets to heal from the traumas of sexualized violence but those of us who do, should work toward building a safe community, where healing or being heard is not something that is reserved for the lucky. You have a duty to the people who aren’t in the room. Please don’t forget about them. There are voices missing from our march today, there are faces who are not in the crowd, and we can't forget about the them, because when we use the word survive, it means that not everybody does.”
For those of us participating in the event for the first time, "Take Back the Night" is the earliest worldwide movement to protest gender-based violence. The phrase "Take Back the night" was used as the title of a 1977 memorial read by activist Anne Pride at an anti-violence rally in Pittsburgh. According to some reports, one of the first "Take Back the Night" marches was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 1975, after the murder of a microbiologist, Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone.
