Sexual Assault Awareness Month

A woman walks alone down a dark, deserted street. With every shadow she sees, and every sound she hears, her pounding heart flutters and skips a beat. She hurries her pace as she sees her destination become closer. She is almost there. She reaches the front door, goes inside, collects herself, and moves on forgetting, at least for tonight, the gripping fear that momentarily enveloped her life. *

As most feminists out there are aware, April is Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month. A lot of you are probably getting involved with activities like Take Back the Night or the Clothesline Project, especially if you’re at a college campus. And, if you are not in some way involved and participating, GET ON IT! : )

For those of you who don’t know, Take Back the Night is an annual rally that protests violence towards women. It usually includes speakers and other events followed by a protest march. For more info visit http://www.takebackthenight.org. And, if your college or area isn’t hosting a Take Back the Night rally, host your own! I’ve attached a video that I took during my college’s Take Back the Night protest.

Another event commonly held during April or March is the Clothesline project. This project also protests violence, but in quite a different manner. The Clothesline project relies on the visual representation of handmade shirts. Each shirt represents a different kind of violence:

White—represents someone who has been murdered
Yellow—someone battered or assaulted
Red—survivals of rape/sexual assault
Blue—survivals of incest & sexual abuse
Purple—attacked because of sexual orientation
Black—women attacked for their political opinons.

FOR more info see http://www.clotheslineproject.org.

For more info on Sexual Assault Awareness Month, visit http://www.nsvrc.org/saam.

Virginia Tech's Take Back the Night March:




*Quote taken from takebackthenight.org