Students march for sexual, domestic violence awareness
Coalition for Women Students hosts annual event on campus
October 18, 2019
Walking down the north side of campus Thursday night, students and residents shouted a slogan: “However, we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no.”
The group was marching for Take Back the Night, an annual event to bring awareness to, and call for the end of, sexual and domestic violence.
The event is hosted by the Coalition for Women Students (CWS). This year it was organized by Asha Johnson, chair member of CWS. She said she has been involved with the event for four years.
Johnson began the event by stating that one-third of women and one-sixth of men are likely to be assaulted and those that identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community are 40 percent more likely to be assaulted.
She said only about 50 percent of people report cases of sexual assault.
“It shouldn’t be like that,” Johnson said.
She said there are several resources in the community such as the CWS, The Women*s Center and Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse.
Lambda Theta Alpha President Araceli Garcia said the sorority attends every year to help support feminism and activism.
“It’s nice to see everyone come together as a community,” Garcia said.
Jasmine Wang, hospitality business management major, said she attended the event last year but was not able to participate in the march.
She said it was inspiring and powerful to hear sexual assault survivors present spoken word poetry.
“It was empowering to say those words,” Wang said.
Miriam Feser, hospitality business management major, said she liked the support the community showed as they walked by.
She said she feels like several people support the cause to bring awareness to sexual and domestic violence.
Johnson said the only challenge in organizing the event was collaborating schedules with other campus clubs, she said. She said she wanted this year to have more outreach to students than years prior.
“[Saying the chants] fueled my fire,” she said.
This night is about encouraging students to be conscious of their actions and support each other, Johnson said.
*This article was updated to reflect Asha Johnson’s accurate title as chair member of CWS and not co-chair.