In honor of Sexual Violence Prevention Month, dozens of students and faculty participated in the Take Back the Night event at the Boulder County Front Range Community College. Members of the community and area nonprofits joined the event to show support for victims of sexual violence as part of a global movement to raise awareness about the difficult topic.
Take Back the Night is the oldest worldwide movement to stand against sexual violence. The organization’s mission is to end sexual violence in all its forms and to support survivors on their healing journeys.
FRCC’s event was organized by the campus Feminist Uprising Collective and included guest speeches, vendor booths from local organizations, music and a candlelight vigil to honor survivors.
“I have always been a feminist, but I didn’t have a direction for my advocacy. I knew this was where I wanted to be, and I think Take Back the Night is an opportunity to bring forth intersectional feminism to the wider community,” said Mikayla Griffith, who joined the Feminist Uprising Collective earlier this year.
Catlyn Keenan teaches Women and Gender Studies at FRCC and has organized the campus event since it began more than eight years ago. Keenan said students started asking why FRCC didn’t host a Take Back the Night evening, and she felt compelled to do so.
“Sexual assault is a big problem on college campuses, and speaking out is one way to help survivors and to end the circumstances that let perpetrators act with impunity,” she said.
Organizers of FRCC’s Take Back the Night had a range of speakers on a variety of different topics, including a discussion on sexual assault from a Boulder County forensic nurse and individuals dedicated to ending human trafficking and dealing with the trauma it creates.
An estimated 100 community members attended the event, some of whom came to share their own stories of survival during the open mic portion of the night.
Mary Ann Grim, co-sponsor of the Feminist Uprising Collective, said, “Take Back the Night gets bigger every year. This is really an opportunity for us to connect people with resources that exist in their own backyard, and to make sure people have access to the kinds of support they need.”
The goal, she explained, is for people to feel safe and to know where to turn if they do need help.
“We have a lot of different needs in the community,” said Zach Bell, volunteer and student, “and I think it is great that there are so many people from all over Longmont who are coming together and talking about these important issues.”
