Gender Issues Matter @ SMC

Tonight was Take Back The Night, a rally in Burlington that called for an end to sexual violence against all people. This event happened in cities all over the country as a we approach the middle of Sexual Violence Awareness month.

A group of us met in the Center for Women and Gender (on campus) to collect our posters and then took a van to UVM. There we heard performances by two a capella groups and listened to several speakers. We marched from the theatre to the center of Church Street, where we entered the town hall for a story sharing event run by HOPE Works, the local rape crisis center.

The march reaches city hall

All in all, it was a sobering but important event. It was great so see such a mix of genders there, and the sort of respect between people was tangible. I plan to do some activities with the Gender Center later this month that involve educational campaigns relating to sexual violence. There's still plenty of days left in April, time to make it count!