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Take Back the Night march advocates domestic violence awareness

The first Take Back the Night march was 127 years ago and across the Atlantic Ocean. This year is the first year Ami Lilley will be at the helm.

The march, which commemorates Domestic Violence Awareness Month, is to protest violence against women as well as garnering community support in preventing future abuse.

Lilley is in charge of organizing the event in her position as the rape crisis services program coordinator of The Women's Center, the march's sponsoring body.

"It's actually got quite a long history," Lilley said. "The very first take back the night march was in England in 1877. In our community, we've been doing it since the early '90s."

Take Back the Night was first introduced to the United States in 1978 when San Francisco became home to the first march.

Starting at 7 p.m. Friday at the Interfaith Center, the march will head to the Carbondale town square where The Clothesline Project, an exhibit of T-shirts formerly on display outside Faner Hall, will hang while the keynote speaker, Lilley's brother Terry, who is a former prevention educator at The Women's Center.

Afterward, a "Speakout" will be held where marchers will be invited to an open- mic to tell peers their experiences with domestic abuse or sexual assault.

Ami, who has been involved with Take Back the Night for about 10 years, is charged with organizing the event for the first time this year after returning to work for the center.

Will Major, assistant director of the Interfaith Center, said the march started at the building for years.

"They've been doing this here for a number of years, before I was here," he said. "We are continuing with that relationship."

Take Back the Night marches are celebrated nationwide, whether in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month or in April during Sexual Assault Awareness and Women's History Month, Ami said.

"For so many years, we've heard of sexual violence or domestic violence being a family issue," she said. "But they're not, they are community issues, and they're not going to go away until we stand together and say 'We're not going to take this anymore'."

Ami said all are welcome. She said last year's march drew around 300 people, and she is expecting an equal or better turnout this year.

 

 

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