The late activist and writer Audre Lorde once said, "I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."
While Princeton has a good reputation for being a safe campus, sexual violence occurs at this university just as at all others. While there is no simple way to address this problem, we must start by breaking the silence and spreading awareness about sex crimes. This is why the annual Take Back the Night march and Stopping the Silence are so important.
Take Back the Night (TBTN) is a march and rally to spread awareness about sexual violence and rape. The event is an international and national occurrence that began in England in the 1970s before spreading to the United States shortly after, and was brought to Princeton by women of our community in 1986. This march is a demand for safety in our lives and reveals the ongoing battle in which women and men are engaged against sexual assault. This year's event takes place this Friday.
It is surprising to realize that TBTN at Princeton has often been criticized and mocked. For example, in 1999 the march was greeted with the sounds of a pornographic movie blasting out of a dormitory window as a young survivor of sexual violence was trying to share her story. The people who don't feel this movement is necessary have been sadly misinformed. TBTN's main mission is to start dialogue around this issue, inform women, men, and the entire community of the reality of sexual assault, and to provide a setting where victims of sexual violence can be free to talk about their experiences. Beyond this and other isolated events, the event has met with some success, including a turn out of 250 people in 2001. As we approach 2004's march, we hope that students of all classes, graduate and seminary students, faculty, and staff will attend the march to show their support for members of the community who have suffered.
The Princeton administration has also made progress with this issue since last year. The Campus Safety Report for 2003 showed a change in the University's policy regarding the reporting of sexual offences. Although this University is only required by law to report the number of sexual offences reported to public safety, this year the Report includes figures of all known offences at the University. This demonstrates the hope that the University can spread awareness about this problem on campus. In this year's report our director of Public Safety, Steven Healy, noted that "living and working in a tranquil environment like Princeton can cause us to forget that crime and other problems can plague us just as they do communities outside the gates of the University." Public Safety is making an effort to improve awareness about sexual violence, but they need the help of students to truly affect change. Take Back the Night is a step in the right direction to overcoming this violence on Princeton's campus.
The first "Stopping the Silence" booklet was started by Princeton student JoAnn Sofis in 2000, and featured four stories of sexual violence in the lives of other Princeton students. The book is distributed in the week leading up to TBTN to spread awareness and break the fear that surrounds sexual violence by revealing intimate, horrifying and true stories from student survivors. This year's booklet includes stories from Princeton women of the past and present, who would like to share their stories with the hope that it will one day save others from the same fate. Stopping the Silence will be available to students during the days leading up to the march at the Frist Campus Center. We encourage you to read each story with the mindset that these survivors are your peers and fellow members of the Princeton community.
Want to know more?
The annual Take Back the Night march will be this Friday from 8 to 10 p.m. and starts in Murray-Dodge Cafe. Go to the Princeton Women's Center on the 200 level of Frist for more information.
Alison Ralph '07 is a member of the planning committee for Take Back the Night. She can be reached at aralph@princeton.edu.
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