By Marcus Camacho
East Los Angeles College will host “Take Back The Night” on tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. near the G3 Auditorium Foyer.
“Take Back The Night” is an international event with the mission to end all forms of sexual violence and raise awareness .
This event has been taking place internationally since the 1970s, but this will be the fifth annual event that has taken place at ELAC.
Early “Take Back The Night” events went back to protests in San Francisco against pornography in 1973.
“Take Back The Night” was used as the title of a memorial that was read by Anne Pride at an anti- violence rally in Pittsburgh in 1977.
“The Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) reported that one in six women in America will be a victim of sexual assault. About three percent of American men, 1 in 33, have either experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. “This need to stop,” said ELAC’s health and fitness instructor Andrea Owens.
In 2003, nine of every 10 rape victims were female. There is an average of 237,868 victims (age 12 or older) of sexual assault each year. Every two minutes, another American is sexually assaulted.
RAINN reported 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police and 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.
RAINN recorded that approximately two-thirds of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim and 38 percent of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
Stats from rain show that 1 out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8 percent completed rape; 2.8 percent attempted rape). Also, 44 percent of victims are under age 18 and 80 percent are under age 30.
The event will have a “Survivor Speakout” at 6 p.m. where people are welcome to share their experiences of sexual assault.
The participants of the event are
welcome to join in the march around campus for the rest of the event.
The event organizers invite everyone to come and join including: students, faculty, staff and their family and friends.
Typically 75 to 100 men and women attend, however, Owens would love to see the level of participation in the event to increase this year and the following years to come.
“It means a lot to be able to have an event that empowers all survivors of sexual assault,” said Owens.
The organization helps victims of sexual assault in the Women and Men Center near the G8 building and at the East Los Angeles Women’s Center, which is located at 1255 S Atlantic Blvd.