Dominique Montgomery carried a purple and silver poster that read “Women Reclaiming the Night” as she marched silently through UT’s campus Oct. 27.
As part of Take Back the Night 2016, Montgomery, a senior in psychology, marched with about 100 others Thursday night in a mile long route through campus to empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Montgomery said the sign she carried gave her the opportunity to honor herself and her loved ones while reclaiming what was taken from them through domestic violence and sexual assault.
“It’s a generational issue,” she said.
The event opened with a resource fair at the HSS Amphitheatre and progressed into a silent march starting on Pedestrian Walkway and ending at HSS. After the march, there was a reading by keynote speaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs, followed by a speak-out session and candlelight vigil.
Gumbs, a poet and author, was sexually assaulted when she was in college. She encouraged those in the audience to dedicate their time at Take Back the Night to a loved one.
“Sexual violence is not only an individual experience,” Gumbs said.
Nora Berenstain, a philosophy professor at UT, described Take Back the Night as an opportunity for survivors to regain agency after a traumatic experience.
“The name signifies reclaiming a space that survivors of sexual violence had taken away from them,” Berenstain said.
The speak-out gave survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault an opportunity to share their stories. Counselors from the UT Counseling Center were also present for any attendees who may have become overwhelmed.
Take Back the Night is sponsored by the Women’s Coordinating Council. Danyelle Norment, the council president, said the event is held to give everyone a safe space to get the resources they need to heal. Norment said these resources can include counseling, medical care or just having someone to confide in.
Norment, a senior in finance, has been a part of the Women’s Coordinating Council since the spring of her freshman year. She said the Women’s Coordination Council has been on campus since the 1960s, however, this is its first year as an independent student organization.
Norment said Take Back the Night is an especially important event on a college campus where women are at an even higher risk of attack.
“We all need to pitch in,” Norment said. “It’s definitely preventable. I want to do my part to make sure we stop it.”
