Break the Silence: (Domestic Violence Awareness Week 3)

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, for the month of October I’m posting about Domestic Violence Awareness once a week!  Missed the first two? Check them out here and here!

This week, I wanted to wait to post until after a really special event regarding Domestic Violence Awareness: Take Back the Night. Take Back the Night is an event dedicated to sexual assault and domestic violence victims. Here’s a little history from the Take Back the Night website: From the late 1970′s through present day, Take Back The Night events have been held by college and university women’s centers, YWCA’s, rape crisis centers, community centers, high school student groups, battered women’s shelters, and other organizations dedicated to helping women achieve safety and empowerment. Events have been held in England, Belgium, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean Islands, the United States, and likely other corners of the globe.

Every Take Back the Night ceremony is different, but I really wanted to share about the ceremony I went to because it was geared toward college students. A college student from Mizzou, Colleen McDevitt, decided to interview rape victims and put together a short film to get the word out there about sexual assault.

This is her video, “I’m a survivor of Rape”:

(You might wanna pause it & let it load. It takes awhile to load, but completely worth watching.)

Collen, Katie, Katlyn, Ellen, and Bonnie have brought up a very important issue through this video, and one that applies to most of us at College Lifestyles- the prevalence of sexual assault among college aged women. It is something that is more serious than you might think, and really common; Women ages 16 to 24 experience rape at rates four times higher than the assault rate of all women, making the college (and high school) years the most vulnerable for women. All 4 of these women in the video were 18 or older, and 3 of the 4 were in college at the time of their rape. The statistics are alarming of how common college rapes are; The most recent large-scale study, including students at both two- and four-year colleges, found 35 rapes per 1,000 female students over seven months (rape was defined as “unwanted completed penetration by force or threat of force”).

One thing that stood out to me about the women in the video was the fact that they all knew their rapist. A couple of them were dating their rapist, or their rapist was a friend. A couple of the girls from the video were at Take Back the Night to talk about their experiences , and they made a great point; they pointed out that often times we think of rape as the stranger that jumps out from behind a bush and rapes you. The truth is, though, that being raped by someone you know is way more likely; the statistics show that ninety percent of college women who are victims of rape or attempted rape know their assailant. The attacker is usually a classmate, friend, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, or other acquaintance (in that order). The women in the video not only knew their attacker, but they trusted them.

We as college-aged women need to be aware of this. It’s scary how common this is. It could happen to one of us! Know what to do if this happens to you or your friends. Like I mentioned last week, Love is Respect has an online chat feature, or you can always call the National Domestic Violence Helpline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE). The most important thing is if your friend has been raped to support them, and not treat them like they did something wrong. And if you have been raped or think you may have been raped, talk to someone you trust and get the help you need.

To learn more about Take Back the Night, visit the Take Back the Night website.

To learn more about the video, check out Colleen McDevitt’s blog or join the facebook group.

Statistics from Center for Problem Oriented Policing.

Patrice is an intern with College Lifestyles (TM). She is a journalism major at William Woods University, and is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She feels strongly about domestic violence awareness and is enjoying spreading the word.