Take Back the Night

I'm going to be serious for a moment today.

On Tuesday, I participated in a Take Back the Night march. Take Back the Night is a march that occurs on college campuses and in communities throughout the world as a demonstration against sexual assault and other forms of violence against women. From the official Take Back the Night site:

A woman walks alone down a dark, deserted street. With every shadow she sees, and every sound she hears, her pounding heart flutters and skips a beat. She hurries her pace as she sees her destination become closer. She is almost there. She reaches the front door, goes inside, collects herself, and moves on forgetting, at least for tonight, the gripping fear that momentarily enveloped her life. This scene could have occurred anywhere last night, last year, or even 100 years ago. Historically, women faced the anxiety of walking alone at night and that is why Take Back the Night began.

I'm sure I speak for nearly all women when I say that I can relate to that feeling of anxiety while walking alone after dark. I used to work nights in unsavory areas of town, and although nothing ever happened to me, there was always the gripping fear of "what if".

The event began with a rally. A student who was majoring in music wrote and performed a song. I don't remember all of it, but the refrain stuck with me. "It is our right. We will take back the night."

Then a professor addressed us. He asked us to reflect on why we were there that evening. He indicated that many of the people present had likely been victims of sexual assault. (Statistically, one out of four women will be a victim of some form of sexual assault at some point in her life.) As I internalized that reality, I began to feel like I did not belong at the event because I was not one of the victims.

After the speech, we began a candlelight march around campus and through the streets of Santa Clara. I was still reflecting on the professor's remarks. Then I had a realization that I did belong there.

I have made certain promises to God about how I will relate to my fellow humans.

[A]nd now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in...
Mosiah 18:8-9

I was there to mourn with those who mourned and comfort those who stood in need of comfort. I was there to stand in solidarity with my sisters as we declared that we would not be intimidated. I was there on behalf of all women to take back the night.