LSU holds 30th Take Back the Night
December 2016
The LSU Student Health Center, LSU Women’s Center, LSU Campus Life and Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response Center, or STAR, collaborated with various campus and community organizations to host the 30th annual Take Back the Night candlelight vigil and march in October. The event was held at LSU’s Memorial Tower.
The evening began with live music and time to enjoy refreshments and receive information from various tables about domestic and sexual violence prevention and assistance.
The program, however, shifted to a serious tone as speakers shared testimonials and information about preventative measures and solutions to reduce the rate of domestic and sexual violence. Speakers included representatives from STAR, the Student Health Center, BRPD and the “We’re Committed” campaign, as well as East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden, LSU Student Government President Zack Faircloth and Office of Diversity Vice Provost Dereck Rovaris.
Both the victims and guest speakers encouraged everyone in the crowd to become active bystanders and take the initiative to speak out if they witness violence.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner on average in the United States. This is equivalent to more than 10 million men and women. One in five women and one in 71 men in the United States have been raped in their lifetime, and about 19.3 million women and 5.1 million men in the United States have been stalked in their lifetime.
In 2010, Louisiana ranked No. 4 in the nation for femicide, the homicide of women. It is projected that over 5,000 adult women per year living in Louisiana will experience domestic violence.
Faircloth said while 90 percent of the University community is aware of the “We’re Committed” campaign, it must continue to join the movement to fix the problem of domestic and sexual violence on campus.
For more information on the University’s “We’re Committed” campaign, visit LSU.edu/werecommitted. For more statistical information about domestic violence across the nation, visit ncadv.org.
Adapted from an article by The Daily Reveille’s Natalie Anderson and Jade Butler. For the original article, please visit: http://www.lsunow.com/daily/lsu-holds-th-take-back-the-night/article_b17ad0ec-9999-11e6-bf43-1bc94f900d58.html