Marshall Students, Mayor, March

Against Sex Crimes

(Top) Mayor Felinton walks with marchers during MU's Take Back The Night Event

(Bottom) Celeste Webb, president of the MU WSSA, speaks to the crowd

Photos By Kim Nisky

Thursday, April 5^th, the Women’s Studies Student Association (WSSA) held a march and rally for survivors of domestic violence, rape, and incest. The third annual event, Take Back the Night, sponsored by the WSSA was held to show these survivors support and that there are avenues to take in order to bring peace once again into their lives.  Another goal of this event was to draw attention to the fact that a vast number of men, women, and children have been victims of sexual assault with hope that sex crimes can someday be eradicated.

Although the march began at 6:00 p.m., that was not the beginning of this event.  From 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., information tables were set up at the Marshall University Memorial Student Center Plaza.  These tables were hosted by the WSSA, Marshall University Women’s Center, P.R.O.W.L., CONTACT Rape Crisis Center, and various other organizations.  Information tables were flooded with pamphlets.  The pamphlets included topics ranging from what to do if you are raped, self-defense education, preventing sexual harassment to a Safe Dating Guide that educates women about date rape. 

According to Celeste Webb, president of the WSSA, t-shirts were sold to raise money in order to sponsor similar activities in the future. Leah Tolliver, the director of the MU Women’s Center stated that the t-shirts were donated to WSSA by the Women’s Center from money they received from a federal grant.  Also on site were purple ribbons and buttons stating “Respect Me.”  These were also given out and seen on all the black t-shirts that many of the participants wore to further show their support.

Huntington Mayor, David Felinton kicked off the march with the Proclamation.  Felinton proclaimed that the city of Huntington supports Marshall University and Take Back the Night.   He also stated that he hoped this march and rally would heighten awareness of these types of crime especially for women and children.   The fifth of April, 2001, was then proclaimed to be Take Back The Night by Mayor Felinton.

Another speaker who helped kick off the march was Dr. Susan Jackson, Associate Professor of Art at Marshall University.  Dr. Jackson wanted to emphasize two points for the night; that the march sends the message that those who see the march see the participants as advocates against domestic violence, rape, and incest and that the participants stand behind the victims, who are not to blame for these crimes committed against them.

Led by Mayor Felinton, the march began at the MU Memorial Student Center Plaza.  The march proceeded east on 3^rd Avenue from Hal Greer Boulevard to 20^th Street and west on 5^th Avenue.  According to Presentation Coordinator, Krishna Wright, the march was flow opposite of oncoming traffic in order to gain as much attention as possible.

While marching, the group shouted chants that were handed out to group members before the procession began. Evidently this plan was effective.   Many motorists honked and waved in support.   One motorist stopped and joined the march after noticing the march’s theme. 

The march ended where it began; at the plaza.  Three speakers spoke in support of Take Back the Night; Celeste Webb, WSSA President, Julia Fox, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Skip Gebhart, LPC, Executive Director of CONTACT Huntington. 

Webb addressed the most recent victims or rape that occurred in Huntington.  Her wish for these “women who were brutally abused” was to find peace. Webb also stated that one of the objectives of the WSSA is to promote equality for all of society.

Next up, Dr. Fox first wanted to thank her mother for teaching her to “stand up as a woman for my rights”.  Fox emphasized that women around the world were brutalized by their social systems.   She wanted to stress that we should understand that all types of abuse against women were connected and in order for women to fight against abuse they must understand this connection.

The last speaker, Gebhart, educated the audience about what to do if they were raped.  He also wanted to emphasize that most perpetrators of rape are “not the stranger in the night” but someone the victim knows.  Another point that Gebhart conveyed was that victims are not only physically injured but also a loss of control of their lives can damage a person’s mind and soul.  Gebhart advised that counseling would help a person regain control.

To conclude the evening for Take Back The Night, survivors were invited to come forward to share their stories of abuse.  Kelli Kerbawy, Social Activism Coordinator for the WSSA, said that this is a step toward the healing process for survivors. 

When asked what she hoped that the public would take away from this event, Kerbawy stated that she wanted people to realize that they must take responsibility and take precautions to prevent sexual abuse from happening to each of us. She also stressed that victims should understand that theirs are not isolated occurrences.

Click Here For The 1st Picture Page Of The Event

Click Here For The 2nd Picture Page Of The Event