Come 'Take Back the Night'

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Take Back the Night Marchers

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 11th annual Northwest Arkansas “Take Back the Night” march will be held at 6:45 p.m. Friday, April 19, on the Fayetteville Square. The theme of the event is the assertion that all human beings have the right to be free from sexual violence, the right to be heard and the right to reclaim those rights if they are violated. Thousands of “Take Back the Night” marches and rallies have taken place worldwide.

The Pat Walker Health Center RESPECT peer education group (Rape Education Services by Peers Encouraging Conscious Thought), a program of the STAR Central (Support, Training, Advocacy, and Resources on Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence), invites the community to attend and speak-out against violence and sexual abuse. 

“Violence is a community issue that requires a community response advocating for cultural change,” said Mary A. Wyandt-Hiebert, director of STAR Central. “‘Take Back the Night’ serves as a venue for community members to come together in a unified voice to speak out against sexual violence, be a catalyst for change and bring an end to sexual violence.”

Scheduled events for the 11th annual “Take Back the Night” march include:

6:45 p.m. – Gathering at the Fayetteville Square, Arvest Plaza

7 p.m. – Opening remarks, including a proclamation read by Mayor Lioneld Jordan

7:15 p.m. – March from the Fayetteville Square to the Arkansas Union Central Quad by way of East Street, Dickson Street and across the U of A campus.

8 p.m. – Closing activities at the Arkansas Union Central Quad.

Activities outside the Arkansas Union include remarks by Wyandt-Hiebert, a speak-out, a candlelight vigil, inspirational singing and more.

Commemorative “glow-in-the-dark” T-shirts are available ($10 per shirt) available at the Pat Walker Health Center and at the event while they last. Proceeds benefit campus rape awareness and prevention education.

Also, on display at Central Quad during the march and throughout the following week will be the Fourth Flag Project. Based on the national statistic that 1 in 4 college women are sexually assaulted while in college, the Fourth Flag Project will consist of 3,049 flags, each representing every fourth female student enrolled at the University of Arkansas, based on fall 2012 enrollment statistics. “The display is a powerful image of the prevalence of sexual violence that plagues college women,” said Wyandt-Hiebert.