Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992 TAG: 9202290133
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
RALLY REMINDS: WOMEN AREN'T TARGETS
By day I lived in terrorBy night I lived in fright
For as long as I can remember
A lady don't go out alone at night.
A lady don't go out alone at night.\ - Holly Near Singer, songwriter, feminist
Susan Anderson sits at her desk in McBryde Hall, surrounded by bumper stickers and fliers for her various causes. Anti-death penalty. Anti-war. Abortion rights. Amnesty International.
Today, she is talking about empowering women.
This is a good time for it - it's the beginning of Women's Week, and events have been planned to bring attention to the achievements and concerns of women.
Anderson is in charge of the activity that perhaps brings the most attention to one of the greatest concerns - violence against women.
We are talking about Take Back the Night, a march that goes through town and campus, protesting acts against women.
"Probably every woman who's ever been walking or jogging alone has had a male or males catcall from a car window or yell something obscene as she goes by," Anderson said. "You're going about your day-to-day life and some sort of abuse, verbal abuse, can hit you without warning."
The march also addresses the more severe types of abuse - rape, sexual abuse against children.
The point, said Anderson, is that many types of violence exist. Even here.
The march is meant to remind people of that.
"It's not just something you read about that's happening in New York or some big city," Anderson said. "And I think if people realize that, if they realize that it occurs locally, it helps."
This is the third year for the march, which has grown with the efforts and organization.
The first event was held in Germany in 1973 in response to a series of sexual assaults, rapes and murders. Five years later, the first U.S. march was held in San Francisco. Since then, marches have sprung up in other communities across the country.
Do they work?
Anderson thinks they do.
"The publicity alone educates people," she said.
The people who will march with Anderson and 18 community and student groups likely will already be converted to the cause.
"But what a rally does is give new information to people. It helps them network. And we talk about what we can do. It builds solidarity among people working for change."
The people who come can educate others, she said. "The men who come can educate their brothers."
Anderson and others on the committee coordinating the march spent several hours in January trudging through campus looking for a route that was handicapped-accessible.
The rally will begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday on the Drill Field in front of Burruss Hall. The march begins at 8 p.m. from there.
Participants are asked to bring candles or flashlights, signs, banners and percussion instruments.
"We want people to express themselves," Anderson said.