Awareness key to ending cycle of violence

"Yes means yes, and no means no, whatever we wear, wherever we go!"

If you were around campus on Wednesday night, then you probably heard chants of this sort coming from a large group of people marching around by the Student Union and Millican Hall. These students and faculty banded together for a night of awareness called "Take Back the Night."

Take Back the Night is an international event that started in Belgium about 30 years ago. This night is historically a night when women come together in large numbers to show that they have had enough of the sexual violence and assaults that occur on a daily basis, especially at night.

The night is a time when women are told to be the most cautious. Learn where to walk when walking alone, walk fast and hold your keys as a weapon just in case someone happens to attack you—these are things that we learn as women and this night is a night to be free from that.

This issue however is not just a women's issue anymore. While the majority of perpetrators of sexual violence are men, men are also victims of this type of violence.

Take Back the Night is a time when we can speak up about the fact that sexual violence knows no gender and that it is an issue we must speak openly and freely about.

Still today, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, according to RAINN.org. Although there is one sexual assault occurring every two minutes, this is still a subject that people don't take seriously.

Students can be heard on campus every day talking about how they "raped" a test and might not necessarily understand the effect their word choice might have on a survivor of sexual violence. Because of things like this, the National Organization for Women at UCF has taken on the task of organizing UCF's own Take Back the Night march which occurs in the spring semester.

This group of students aims to educate their peers about the issue of sexual violence. NOW brings in various organizations that people can learn from, volunteer with and even get help from if they themselves or a friend happens to need it.

While it is difficult to get students to come out to events like this, support the cause and learn about the issue. The event has been steadily growing over the past two years. NOW hopes to one day inform the UCF student body about sexual violence and ways in which we can all take part in ending it to help make campus and society a safer place to be.

The only way we can begin to break the cycle of violence is to talk about it. Have a conversation among friends, attend events like Take Back the Night or go to a NOW meeting.

Whatever action we decide to take we need to realize that it is imperative that we speak up and speak out about sexual violence because if we shatter the silence, we can stop the violence.