This week marks the 40th anniversary of “Take Back the Night”. The event highlights awareness and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence. And the University of Oregon is working to be inclusive of different cultures affected by the issue.
Student Organizer Itzel Chavez Gomez says Native American women suffer higher rates of violence than other groups.
“1 in 3 Native American women will experience sexual violence in her lifetime," she tells KLCC. "And it’s not ‘has experienced’, it’s ‘will experience’ this.
"So they have to navigate their life knowing that one day, they too might be victims.”
Chavez Gomez is a Latina senior at the U of O. She says undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault are often afraid to call police to intervene, for fear of deportation. But she says the event is for them as well.
“The translation of ‘Take Back the Night’, we changed it last year actually to ‘Recuperar La Noche,’" she explains.
"Recuperar" means ‘to heal oneself’. So it really encompasses what this night is all about. It’s a night of solidarity, a night of healing.”
Organizers expect at least 300 people to participate.
Copyright KLCC, 2018.
