The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Rachel Dembrun A mock shirt, that reads "1 and 4 girls and 1 and 6 boys will be secually abused before the age of 18," hangs along a clothesline with different shirts during the Take Back the Night event. Every shirt that was hung was made by a sexually assaulted victim that wanted to speak their mind.

One survivors T-shirt read, "You might have hurt me then … But I won't be a victim now."

Hundreds of CSU students, community members, survivors of sexual assault and their allies flooded the streets of Fort Collins last night as part of the 18th annual "Take Back the Night" march, chanting and supporting signs boasting messages similar to that on the T-shirt. And using those messages, spoke out to advocate for the end of sexual violence and abuse.

"It's not always easy to be here but it's important," said one survivor, whose name was not published to protect their anonymity as a victim of assault. "We did not ask for this. We are begging you to wake up and help us take back the night."

The CSU Campus Feminist Alliance hosted the event, which draws in thousands of participants each year internationally. This year, participants met in the Sculpture Park west of the Lory Student Center to listen to past victims.

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