Emotions ran high as survivors of sexual assault told their stories at Texas A&M University – Kingsville’s (TAMUK) Taking Back the Night event hosted by the Student Health and Wellness Center (SHW).
Director of SHW at TAMUK Jo Elda Alaniz-Castillo opened the event with a message not only for the survivors, but for all TAMUK students.
“It is a time that we come together where we think about what the meaning of taking back the night is,” Alaniz-Castillo said. “If you just think about that statement you realize it’s an individual feeling powerless and wanting to say, ‘No, this is my night. It will always be my night, and I will take it back.’”
Alaniz-Castillo went on to plead for students to not ignore the issue of sexual violence.
“If you think of that you will understand why we come together to honor individuals to remind them that we are here and we too want gender violence to stop,” Alaniz-Castillo said.
After the reading of two poems written by survivors of sexual assault, there was silence for a full 60 seconds as survivors in attendance worked up the courage to tell their story.
Once the first survivor got up to speak, it opened the floodgates and a stream of people from all genders opened up about their own tribulations.
Students and faculty in attendance watched through teary eyes and provided support for all those affected.Later in the event, Wellness Advocate Janett Martinez introduced an activity as part of The Clothesline Project.
“[The Clothesline Project] is a visual display dedicated to raising awareness about the reality of violence in our society,” Martinez said.
Martinez then explained what the visual display consisted of.
“It’s composed of t-shirts created by survivors of violence or in honor of someone who has experienced violence,” Martinez said. “Each t-shirt reflects a persons experience and perspective.”
Shirt decorations ranged from the powerfully poignant to the powerfully hopeful. One woman drew two people standing under an umbrella in the rain in the color purple that, in the context of The Clothesline Project, represents women attacked because of their sexual orientation.
Title IX Coordinator at TAMUK Tasha Clark attended the event and put forward the point that intervening in the event of sexual assault is not the only piece of the puzzle.
“If you hear something, you can use intervention to correct conversations on campus that are inappropriate or offensive to help change the culture and create the culture that you want to see on campus that includes and respects everybody,” Clark said.
Co-Chair of the Social Justice and Advocacy committee of TAMUK’s Student Government Association Edmund Nnana also spoke at the event and reiterated the importance of talking about sexual violence.
“You have friends all around campus. You have sisters in your sororities, brothers in your fraternities and things like that,” Nnana said. “Talk to them about these things. These are things that really matter in society.”
University Police Department (UPD) Officer Morgan Hernandez spoke at the event to educate attendees on what sexual assault means and the various punishments a perpetrator would face.
Hernandez urged everyone to have the phone number for UPD, (361) 593-2611, on speed dial on his or her phone in order to be able to contact UPD as quickly as possible in the event of an attack.
