Take back Take Back the Night

This Thursday, Barnard and Columbia students will come together for a night-long affirmation of sexual assault victims’ survival and empowerment. The Take Back the Night march attracts over a thousand students every year, and its structure is not without controversy. But while there should be discussion and room for evolution, Take Back the Night stands unequivocally as a force for good on this campus, and one that we, as students, support.

As the march is currently organized, there is a women-only section in front of a gender-neutral section. The switch to such a structure was relatively recent—for years, only women could take part in Take Back the Night at all. This raises an important philosophical question. What role should gender play in an event centered on an issue that, statistically, directly affects one gender much more than it does the other? What is the proper balance between participants’ comfort and greater inclusiveness? The TBTN coordinators have made it clear that deciding to maintain the current structure was not easy, and we do believe that the issue should be discussed and re-evaluated regularly.

However, it is important to remember that while the organization of the march is not perfect—what policy is?—it is a compromise indicative of extensive reflection and consideration of multiple points of view.

In addition to being an ideological issue, this was a practical concern—the more women feel completely safe, the more likely they are to take part in the event. Furthermore, sensitivity to how this issue really affects women during the march ultimately must outweigh ideological concerns, however valid the latter are. It would be highly unfortunate if the organizers’ intentions were misinterpreted as some sort of sexism, as opposed to a practical and philosophical balance of inclusion and comfort.

Take Back the Night shouldn’t be about a gender binary, or about taking sides on where one stands in a march. It should be about taking a stand for the march. There should be discussion, and there should be analysis of how gender, sexual assault, and domestic violence are perceived and dealt with in our community. But that discussion should work with, not against, the empowerment of all community members. On Thursday, we hope the debate will momentarily be superseded by action. We hope that students will take this march back from personal preference and give it to our entire community for the empowerment of all genders.

Ben Cotton recused himself from this editorial due to a personal connection to one of Take Back the Night’s organizers.