Frequently Asked Questions
What is Women Take Back the Night?
Women Take Back the Night is an international feminist
tradition of marches and rallies that have been occurring around
the world since 1976. That year, in Belgium, women attending the
International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women marched together
in solidarity, holding candles to protest the ways in which violence
permeates the lives of women worldwide.
What is Sacramento Women Take Back the Night?
Sacramento Women Take Back the Night is the informal
name of Northern California Association for Women Take Back the Night
(“NCAWTBN”). NCAWTBN was organized to conduct activities
for the purpose of educating the public on issues of violence against
women. One of its primary activities is the annual Women Take Back
the Night rally and march held in Sacramento, California in October.
Event organizing and planning occurs through an all volunteer Planning
Committee consisting of a diverse group of individuals and community
organizations.
NCAWTBN is a tax-exempt non-profit public benefit corporation governed
by a Board of Directors. Donations and sponsorships from other organizations
and individuals provide the funding needed to carry on the activities
of NCAWTBN.
What is the mission of the Northern California
Association for Women Take Back the Night?
WTBN has existed for the purpose of creating a zero tolerance for violence against
women by:
- Increasing community awareness around issues of violence against
women and its interrelationship with all other forms of oppression;
- Educating ourselves and others about the extent and the nature
of violence that is systematically used against women to keep
us from becoming powerful, autonomous individuals;
- Honoring the memory of the victims of violence and celebrating
its survivors
- Serving as a collective voice for women to demand a world in
which women's bodies, minds and spirits are not targets of violence;
- Empowering individual men and women to take direct action against
violence through activism;
- Providing the leadership to challenge organizations and other
institutions to implement policies and initiatives which are effective
in addressing issues of violence against women.
Why do women still need to take back the night?
Due to the sensitive nature of and social stigma related to sexual
assault and domestic violence, severe underreporting of these crimes
make it virtually impossible to gather complete data on the numbers
of women and children affected. Nevertheless, reported cases, while
only a part of the picture, illustrate the pervasive nature of the
problem worldwide.
According to the Human Rights Watch, global abuses against women are
relentless, systematic, and widely tolerated if not explicitly condoned.
Combatants and their sympathizers in conflicts, such as those in Sierra
Leone, Kosovo, the Congo, Afghanistan, and Rwanda have raped women
as a weapon of war with near complete impunity. Men in Pakistan, South
Africa, Peru, Russia, and Uzbekistan beat women in their homes, while
these governments alternatively refuse to intervene or do so in ways
that make women feel culpable. As a direct result of inequalities
found in their countries of origin, women from Ukraine, Moldova, Nigeria,
the Dominican Republic, Burma and Thailand are bought and sold, trafficked
to work in forced prostitution. According to the U.S. State Department's
2005 Trafficking in Persons Report, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000
men, women and children are trafficked across international borders
each year. Of that, approximately 80% are women and girls, and up
to 50% are minors. Though real progress has been made through grassroots
international efforts, violence and discrimination against women are
global social epidemics.
Much work remains in order to break the silence and shame regarding
the victimization of women and children, including misconceptions
about the prevalence of the problem. Most of the time, despite its
magnitude and global pervasiveness, violence against women is socially
invisible, seen as individual, unrelated incidents. Even in the United
States, private citizens, policymakers and funding agencies believe
that the situation has markedly improved. In fact, violence against
women has not decreased and still affects, in devastating ways, the
daily choices which women make.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one
in every four women in the United States will experience domestic
violence in her lifetime. Each year, an estimated 1.3 million women
are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner. 30 to 60 percent
of perpetrators who engage in intimate partner violence also abuse
children in the household. According to the California Coalition Against
Sexual Assault ("CALCASA"), sexual bullying among children
can be a precursor to more advanced forms of sexual and relationship
violence in adolescent and adult life. While the problems of violence
affect all women and children, research suggests that low-income women
and women of color are at potentially greater risk and face often
insurmountable barriers in their efforts to find help for themselves
and their families. Both CALCASA and the United Nations Development
Fund for Women ("UNIFEM") call for campaigns that educate
the public about the devastating impact that violence against women
has on society. Sacramento WTBN is committed to answering these calls
to action.
So, what does "take back the night" mean? Taking back the
night means making the night a safe place for women. If nights were
safe, women could go out by themselves without feeling like they were
taking a dangerous risk. Unfortunately, the statistics confirm that
this is not the case, even today, and despite the existence of domestic
violence shelters, sexual assault and domestic violence crisis lines,
laws on violence against women, and the like. Clearly, "take
back the night" is not an outdated issue. In order to change
any social condition, we must educate ourselves and others about its
significance and impact. Part of our challenge is to keep the issue
of violence against women on the "front burner" and create
a nonpartisan groundswell for innovative policy approaches to the
challenge of ending violence against women. This is why we still need
to Take Back the Night.
How can I get involved with Sacramento Women Take Back the Night?
For information on how to contact Sacramento WTBN and get involved, go here.
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