Rally addresses sexual violence

By Sana Danish

Daily Staff Reporter

Despite the more than 300 unfamiliar faces staring back at her from the Diag on Saturday evening, Social Work graduate student Beth Harrison-Prado stood on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library and spoke openly about surviving sexual assault.

Harrison-Prado, who identified herself as transgender individual, described in frank detail the experience of being raped by a group of men after initially being mistaken for a gay man.

The rally started the 21st annual Take Back the Night march against sexualized violence in any form, which included male and transgender participants for the first time.

"I know that having an inclusive march was challenging for some people in this community, but I think it is a crucial step toward truly challenging sexualized violence," Harrison-Prado said.

Organized by the Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape, the event included speeches by survivors of sexualized violence as well as poetry readings and a musical performance.

"Being given the chance to speak at the rally was a real honor and it also gave me a chance to speak for transgender friends who couldn't be here to speak for themselves," Harrison-Prado said.

LSA freshman Seema Bhat said the survivors' stories at the rally deeply affected her.

"It was very upsetting, there were tears in my eyes," Bhat said. Participants left the Diag after the rally and proceeded throughout downtown Ann Arbor shouting several chants such as, "Yes means yes, no means no, however we look, wherever we go."

On South State Street participants marched silently in memory of those who died as a result of sexualized violence.

The march concluded on the Diag, where participants lit candles for the survivors. RC sophomore Kristi McGuire, who carried a sign throughout the march, said this was the second time she attended a Take Back the Night march. "It was fantastic," she said when the march ended. "The only way I can think to improve it is if more people participated."

During the march, a group of almost 20 men participated in a workshop and dialogue organized by the White Ribbon Campaign as an alternative "for men who don't want to participate out of respect for the survivors' space," Rackham student Gary Brouhard said. The White Ribbon Campaign, a group of men working to end violence against women, formed in Canada in 1991.

LSA junior Benjamin Osborne attended the workshop after the rally instead of marching.

"It was really interesting to see the open display of emotion that you don't get in typical all-male settings," Osborne said.

KRISTIN GOBLE/Daily

Participants in the annual Take Back the Night march down East Washington Street in protest of violence against women Saturday night.