UWRF Student Senate, SART plan events to raise awareness about sexual assault

The UW-River Falls Student Senate and the St. Croix Valley Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) are working on a joint project called “Take Back the Night,” an annual event to raise awareness about domestic abuse and violence, specifically towards women.

On April 28, Student Senate will hold a kickball tournament on the intramural fields that will involve a number of campus organizations. In addition, live music from local bands and food will available at the event.

Student Senate is holding the event as part of its “It’s On Us” campaign, which is a nationwide effort to create awareness about violence and sexual assault directed at women.

Jessica Knapp, the inclusivity student senator, said it is important to get students involved in the campaign.

“Really, just to get more people involved and aware of the campaign, we don’t want it to die, we want to get even more discussion going before the end of the semester and get people pumped so we can bring it back next year in full force,” she said.

The “Take Back The Night” campaign began about a half century ago in Europe when women from different countries began meeting in public to discuss women’s safety, most notably at night on public streets.

SART will hold several events off campus, including a march on Main Street in downtown River Falls, a candlelight vigil and a fundraising dinner. The events are scheduled from 6-9 p.m. April 21, starting at the St. Bridget Catholic Church in River Falls.

Brooke Marlow, a client service advocate for SART, said the events will help the organization.

“We are the beneficiary of the dinner… The ‘It’s on Us’ campaign is for victims of violence and because we serve that demographic, our presence is going to be at the dinner talking about our services and also raising money for our organization,” she said.

The “Take Back the Night” events and kickball tournament are part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which occurs in April.