While the traditional Take Back the Night has drawn an increasing number of male allies over the years, the march will continue to be led by women, organizers said.
“It’s critical, partially to honor the history of the movement, and to acknowledge that in history it has been a women’s initiative,” co-coordinator Jen Levinson, BC ’11, said. “Sexual assault is a very gendered crime, and the vast majority is men perpetrating it against women. We’re trying to create a safe space for women.”
Take Back the Night is an annual protest march aimed to break the silence about sexual assault and domestic violence. An international movement that dates back to 1976, the first march at Columbia University was organized at Barnard College in April 1988. Since then, the march has continued to grow, attracting as many as 1,000 participants in some years. Last year, the event attracted several hundred people.
The pre-march rally is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday inside the Barnard Gates, with organizer speeches, followed by an hour-long march—about an hour shorter than past years. At 10:00 p.m., participants trek to LeFrak Gymnasium in Barnard Hall for a speak-out, where survivors and participants will share their stories anonymously.
This year, for the first time ever, the front section of the march will be delineated by female marshals, and open only to those who identify as women on a daily basis. Female marshals will blockade the women-only section, with specific demarcations as to where the space ends.
Still, Barnard’s chapter of Take Back the Night will continue to be coed. The remaining portion of the march will be gender-neutral and open to all participants from the Morningside Heights area.
“We recognize that men and people who don’t even fit within the gender binary are survivors of sexual assault,” Levinson said. “Men play a big role in raising awareness and ending sexual assault, which is our ultimate goal.”
Coordinators are happy to include male marshals in the gender-neutral section of the march, in addition to female marshals at the front, in order to facilitate a calm atmosphere and keep the march in line.
“We like to have them [the male marshals], because we’d like to have the march as integrated as possible,” clothesline coordinator Alexandra Barnett, BC ’12 said.
According to Barnett, the majority of the group would feel more comfortable with a women-only section if “problems were to arise.”
Bar Night coordinator Maddie Friedman, BC ’12, hopes to see respectful behavior. Friedman hosts Bar Nights twice a year, usually at local pub 1020, to talk to local patrons about consent and sex-positive actions.
“Bars in particular are important places to have that conversation,” Levinson said. “Alcohol often complicates the picture when we talk about consent.”
Friedman agreed. “Certain types of conversations can take place within bars,” she said. “There’s alcohol involved so the mood is lighter than other places. But part of why we host Bar Nights is to show that these kinds of things can happen in other places too.”
In addition to Bar Nights, coordinators have been finding new and different ways to reach out. They set up a Facebook event to which over 600 people have already RSVP’d that they are attending. Organizers also created a Twitter account, where they tweet anti-violence facts. All of this, in addition to an aggressive flyer campaign, leaves coordinators confident that they will have a large turnout. Since the first march was organized at in 1988, march attendance has grown every year, and, according to Levinson, it is “consistently one of the largest student-led events on campus.” Barnett hopes to see 1,000 participants march on Thursday.
“We hope for a smooth night with lots of people spreading positive vibes,” Friedman said.
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