Take back the night by candlelight

A candlelight vigil and a performance by folksinger Carrie Akre was the finale for the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Awareness (SARVA) week.

About 100 onlookers gathered on the HUB lawn Thursday at 7 p.m. to participate in the rally, hoping to end violence through education.

UWOnCue, a campus drama group, performed a skit on the different ways people react when they find out someone they know has been sexually assaulted. The piece stressed how a negative reaction can possibly harm the victim, therefore leading them to choose to not report the crime.

"I think that a lot of women go through moments like [UWOnCue] just displayed, on myriad levels," said Akre. "The more people talk about it, the better."

Elize Lebsack from the Northwest Network, a support group for non-heterosexual survivors of abuse, addressed issues of violence within the gay community. Jo Jo Goan from the Asian and Pacific Islander Women and Children Safety Center read slam poetry and stressed how "men need to get involved to stop the cycle of violence."

Tara Steinke, senior and president of ASUW's Committee Organizing Rape Education (CORE) was satisfied with last night's turnout.

"There's a lot of people here that really care about the issue, and we had a great diversity of speakers today," said Steinke.

A large focus of the event was information about preventing sexual assault and relationship violence. Suggestions included using UWCARES, walking with friends and carrying a whistle. UWCARES is a University organization that provides pairs of employees to escort people around campus at night. Programs such as UWCARES have been proven to be a large factor preventing rapes and sexual assaults on campuses nationwide.

Another program offered by the University is the Night Ride. Night Ride is a system of vans to carry customers off campus and will drop them off anywhere within a one-mile radius of campus. To those with a U-Pass, the service is free.

Other ways to prevent rape, relationship abuse and other sexual assaults were the key message of the week. Men and women need to be careful in social situations, and the CORE and Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Service has made an effort to educate (see sidebars).

What to do to offer support, and how to get it were also emphasized all week. Numerous groups, both on and off campus, are available to offer support and help victims of sexual assault or relationship violence.

The rally last night may have affected those involved the most. Akre said that she enjoys performing at events like this, and plans to do a compilation CD for Home Alive, a local anti-violence group that offers affordable self-defense classes.

"They asked me to write a song specifically for them, and I'm really excited about that," said Akre. The CD should be completed by this fall.