EDITORIAL: Take back the night, take back the power

October 14, 2010 by Editorial staff 

Last night, one of the most important events of the semester took place on campus. The 17th annual Take Back the Night event was a demonstration of a movement that UNLV should be proud to be a part of.

The purpose of this annual event, which traces its roots back to Europe in the 1800s, is to bring about awareness of violence against women.

The event included musical performances, poetry and, most importantly, participation from many students who told their stories and expressed their support for raising awareness of this daunting issue.

We could not agree more with the message of this event.

Uniting to oppose domestic violence against women is a noteworthy cause that deserves public interest and discussion.

Nevada already ranks last in a number of important categories.

Unfortunately, we are also amongst the states with the highest instances of domestic violence.

In a city like Las Vegas, where women are about as subjectified as they can be, Take Back the Night brings about some much-needed publicity
Between the strip clubs, casinos and guarantees of girls direct to your room, commodifying women is almost quintessential Las Vegas culture.

In this environment, it is no surprise then that sexual violence against women is a problem.

Unlike other crimes, sex crimes against women are practically the only type in which victims are questioned as though they might have been partially responsible for the heinous acts committed against them.

For example, in crimes such as rape, our society subconsciously holds women responsible for what they wear or how they behave. It is as if their “suggestive” behavior asked for the violation.

When the discussion of sexual and domestic violence isn’t marred by the discussion of responsibility, victims are afraid to seek help due to societal pressures, or fear of isolation, humilation and of losing self-respect.

Psychology suggests that it is extremely difficult to come out and tell stories about abusive relationships.

Take Back the Night allows these women the chance to see that there is support for them — amongst men and women of different races, backgrounds and beliefs. It allows them to speak up and out loud.

An event like this can make all the difference in our society.

This movement promotes necessary change, and hopefully, will help create a world in which men do not use their physical power to subdue women. In other words, this would be a world with greater gender equality to look forward to.

The world needs to see that Las Vegas is not just a city of sin.

We do care about the consequences of the ideas that our culture promotes, and UNLV will remain a community for providing support to abused women and furthering the fight against domestic and sexual violence.