Students will march from Maxson Plaza to the Beach Auditorium at 5 p.m. Monday to speak out against sexual violence against women. The event, Take Back the Night, follows the slogan, “Stop the silence, stop the violence.”
Gina Golden Tangalakis, a psychology professor at Cal State Long Beach, is organizing the event.
“This provides not only a voice for students who have been victims of violence, but also a voice for those who have been supporters of victims,” she said. “This particular event is unusual in that it is organized by students in a community psychology class.”
In the class, which Tangalakis teaches, students embrace the “meaning of ‘community’ in their efforts to address violence against women,” she said.
TBTN was first organized in Brussels, Belgium, in 1976.
“It originally began with a gathering of 2,000 women from various locations and was a four-day event,” Tangalakis said. “It continued to spread throughout Europe; 16,000 women had been raped in Rome [that year].”
Historically, the event involved women walking through a city, but now it is common on college campuses, she said.
“Verbal assaults and hostile, abusive verbal interactions can be intimidating and quite damaging,” Tangalakis said. “They happen here on campus as well. They happen to faculty, as well as students.”
In 2004 and 2005, CSULB was hit with a series of rape attacks. According to University Police, cameras were installed around campus last year to help deter crime and monitor places officers could not patrol 24 hours a day.
In an interview with Lt. Scot Willey, he discussed tactics campus police are using to help foster a safe environment. This includes the addition of officers to the Green Team — officers on foot, bikes and segways — proactive law enforcement, the installation of cameras and heightened awareness of issues in the community.
Tangalakis believes the TBTN event will increase campus awareness.
“The police department does not and cannot function [alone],” she said. “Prevention is everyone’s responsibility.”
There will be a series of speakers discussing prevention of abuse, characteristics of predators, the cycle of abuse and the effects of sexual abuse on everyone. There will also be a presenter from CSULB’s Feminist Organization Reclaiming Consciousness and Equality, Project Safe, Orange Karate Center Inc. and the Long Beach Domestic Violence Shelter.
Students and administrators will also speak. Jeffrey Klaus, director of Student Life and Development, will talk about awareness, action, attitude and achievement. There will also be students reading poetry, sharing personal testimony, and providing information about various organizations and support systems available on campus.
Kathryn Davis, a student in Tangalakis’ class and one of the organizers of the event, feels the issues addressed at TBTN are “relevant and important … to us all.”
Davis said, “It is time for people to say enough is enough.”
Davis added that it is important for men to attend this event.
“Real men stand up against this type of violence in their community,” she said. “It is important for women to see that not all men are dangerous.”
Davis encouraged everyone to wear purple, signifying domestic violence awareness. Participants will have banners, candles and slogans to chant as they march out of Maxson Plaza to the dorms, the Walter Pyramid and later to the Beach Auditorium.
In the auditorium, students have organized a platform for survivors to speak openly about their experiences. There will also be a silent auction open to everyone. The proceeds will go to a shelter to provide meals for the holiday season, Tangalakis said.
“These students have truly embraced the meaning of applied community psychology,” Tangalakis said.
The event will start at 5 p.m. at Maxson Plaza and end at 8 p.m. in the Beach Auditorium.
