Lit candle during the walk.
On the night of Oct. 12, the UMPI campus was brighter than usual as a large group of people made their way from Gentile to South halls, each holding a lit candle. This was the beginning of Take Back the Night, a night of awareness for sexual assault and its many victims. This was the fourth consecutive year of Take Back the Night on the UMPI campus, hosted by the Student Organization of Social Workers.
Many people attended this event, one of whom was Michaela Therrien, who is a Junior here at UMPI. “Since I’ve been at school, I’ve been participating every year. And this year I think we had the most turnout,” she said
After the candle-lit walk, which was accompanied by drumming by some of the women from the Micmac Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocacy Center, everyone gathered into South Hall. Once inside the warm and homelike lounge, the group began creating a safe and open environment that would be closed and opened by the drumming and singing of the Micmac representatives. Stories of personal experiences were shared and support was given as everyone in the room became part of something empowering and emotional.
UMPI student Alyssa Finlay, who attended the event, had some powerful words to say afterward. “Knowing that people have to go through such horrible events, and sometimes not even receive any help from people around them, is a really upsetting thought. And I hope that we’re able to get more people to realize that this is not the victim’s fault, and hopefully end victim blaming.”
This event was free and open to the public. There were resources there for people who needed anything related to domestic or sexual violence.
Therrien summed up the importance of the event well: “Take Back the Night has a big history and I think that it is really important because it allows people to tell their stories and bring awareness. It brings us one step close to figuring out how to help those people.”
