By Olivia Woods – Contributor 

This Thursday, November 14th at Optimist Field at 7pm, the Sexual Culture Committee’s will host the 7th annual Take Back the Night Protest (TBTN). The protest, which happens every year in November, is the time to be loud and to take a stance against sexual and gender-based violence in the Bishops community. Take Back the Night is an international organization founded in the 1970’s with one of the notable events being organized by a group of women from the University of Florida. They marched through campus dressed as witches to reclaim the night and demanded resources and safety for women. Since then, there have been over 1400 Take Back the Night events that have reached over 10 million people worldwide. The event aims at helping survivors know that they are not alone, educating the community about the various forms of sexual violence including the rape culture pyramid, and calling out the patriarchal hierarchy that upholds and creates violence across the world everyday. 

When asked about the importance of Take Back the Night, Tessa Bradshaw, the Junior Co-Chair of the Committee, said “Everyone deserves to feel safe walking the streets at night. By taking back the night, we show our unity and stand with all those affected by sexual and gender based violence”. Over the past four years, the university has ensured that sexual violence prevention is at the forefront of its initiatives, collaborating heavily with students and the Sexual Culture Committee to center student voices. Recently, the university completed the recommendations from the independent report done in 2021/22 by the Centre for Legal Innovation in Sexual Assault Response (CLISAR). The CLISAR report included 45 recommendations specifically created for the university to implement to improve reporting systems around sexual violence, address areas of concern, improve preventive policies and the implementation of new trainings for staff and students. 

Although these strides are impactful, there is still work to be done. The goal of the event is to create a safe space and call people in to learn and create change instead of calling people out. A question that is frequently asked is who is welcome at TBTN? Everyone is welcome, and we encourage everyone to attend, students, staff, faculty, community members, survivors of sexual and gender based violence and those who want to learn how to help and become allies. It is up to us as a community to take a stance and say that sexualized violence is not tolerated or permitted at Bishops and that starts with you. 

So we ask – are you ready for it? Are you ready to stand up and be loud to create a community of change? Are you ready to say that you stand against violence? Are you ready to support and uplift your peers? Take the first step towards change and attend Take Back the Night. We can’t wait to see you Thursday November 14th, 7pm, Optimist Field.

Olivia Woods is the Senior Co-Chair of the Sexual Culture Committee