A student group at Brigham Young University is planning a rally and march Thursday night, April 9, to protest violence against women.
The Committee to Promote the Status of Women is sponsoring the "Take Back the Night" rally. In November, the group called for a male curfew at BYU to raise awareness about rape.The rally and march are aimed at increasing community awareness of the precautions women must take in order to feel safe - particularly at night, said BYU psychology professor and faculty adviser Tomi Ann Roberts.
"(It's) a way to have one evening where women proclaim they will be safe, and strong and free," Roberts said. "It's really empowering. There's just this sense of women's abilities to survive and to be hopeful and gain strength from each other."
The rally will begin with a benefit concert at the Rock Garden, 22 S. Freedom Blvd. (200 West) at 8 p.m. The group is requesting a $3 minimum donation.
Proceeds will help create a Women's Resource Center at the university. The committee has joined other women's groups at BYU in asking the administration to create the Women's Resource Center.
The concert will feature two Provo bands, "The Relatives" and "Me and Jake." A Salt Lake band, "Middletown," and the duo Megan Peters and Kathryn Warner will also perform.
Just before the march, survivors of violent attacks will participate in a ceremony in which they'll don green arm bands as a sign of solidarity.
"All these issues are so delicate and so painful, therefore they are often so private," Roberts said. The proclamation ceremony shows women it's possible to turn fear into solidarity and power and strength, she said.
At 11 p.m., the committee will lead a march from the Rock Garden to Center Street and then up University Avenue to 500 North and west to Freedom Boulevard. Students on college campuses across the United States have held "Take Back the Night" marches every spring for years; this is the first march scheduled in Provo.
The marches "recapture the feeling of safety that isn't part of our daily lives," said BYU student Kristin Rushforth. "It's a really good way to promote awareness about women's issues and to protest violence against women."
Men supportive of women's issues are invited to participate in the event, Roberts said.