Take Back The Night | News Live a 6

By Nicole Aponte

Take Back the Night returned to the Syracuse University campus. Take Back the Night is annual rally, march and speakout event that brings together community members to raise awareness of sexual, relationship and all forms of interpersonal violence. 

This event is not unique to Syracuse University; it is a global initiative held on the last Wednesday of March. The events planned at Hendricks include a rally followed by a march across campus. 

After the march, students are invited to participate in a virtual message board where participants can share words of encouragement and support. The speak-out and message board concludes the night and is a smaller, private event wherestudents have the chance to have their voices heard in a safe place. 

Take Back the Night’s origins are still uncertain. It’s believed to have started in London, England in 1877 where women protested they felt unsafe while alone at night. A century later in 1976, the first rally happened in Belgium. Women who attended the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women lit candles and marched around the streets of Belgium. Now in 2022, the tradition will continue on March 30th here at Syracuse University. 

Community members were encouraged to sign the Take Back the Night Pledge by March 29th, 2022. 221 people have now signed the pledge, but signatures are welcomed all semester long.