Marchers armed with signs and megaphones made a stand against violence.

Marchers mobilize to 'Take Back the Night'

By: David Cordill

Posted: 4/28/08

Around 60 people rallied en masse against violence and sexual abuse at a gathering in Mill Creek Park on the Plaza during the UMKC Women's Center's Take Back the Night (TBTN) march April 22.

The predominately female assemblage was assisted by a UMKC police escort who ushered the participants from the Volker Campus to the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain at 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway.

Violence Prevention Coordinator at the Women's Center Cynthia Taylor, one of the TBTN organizers, spoke about the long-term aims of the event.

"The ultimate goal is that we should be able to walk down the street in the middle of the night and not feel fear," Taylor said. "That's not where we live right now, and that's okay, but this is just an opportunity to speak out against sexual assault."

Marchers chanted, blew whistles and carried signs with various slogans such as "NO CONSENT = RAPE" and "END THE SILENCE." From the passenger seat of a UMKC police cruiser, Annette Uwaemenyi, freshman political science major, took on the role of yell leader via the car's public address system.

After the 45-minute walk from the Volker Campus, the group was greeted by belly dancers who gyrated to the beat of a drum circle seated nearby. While some marchers rested and enjoyed the entertainment, others lined the boulevard and displayed their signs to the Plaza traffic.

Speeches were given by Scott Mason, a domestic violence activist from the Rose Brooks Center; Victoria Pickering, Kansas City Area Planned Parenthood; date-rape victim Monica Gray, who is a volunteer with the Metropolitan Organization to Combat Sexual Assault (MOCSA); and Missouri State Representative Beth Lowe.

Mason discussed the intentions of the Rose Brooks Center.

"Community service is something we can all be responsible for," Mason said. "We're definitely here, and we're definitely a part of that community response for domestic violence and sexual assault."

Pickering spoke to the gathering about preventing the unintended pregnancy of sexual assault victims by promoting what she called emergency contraception (EC). Pointing out that no law exists in Kansas or Missouri requiring emergency room caregivers to provide EC, or information pertaining to EC, to victims of sexual assault, Pickering urged people to purchase their own, which she said is currently available over the counter at most local pharmacies.

"We support the right of every woman in every circumstance to prevent an unintended pregnancy," Pickering said. "… Given the current situation, and the fact that there are no laws actually out there … the most important thing we can do as women ourselves, and as allies and lovers of women, is to arm ourselves."

Gray told the audience about how she began working for MOCSA in 2003 after she was sexually assaulted. She said she was abused by her uncle when she was younger and later by his son. Gray said she experienced other similar traumatic instances as a teenager.

"I was in and out of every psychiatric hospital," Gray said. "I was anorexic, I was depressed, I was suicidal. They had to pump my stomach. I was very promiscuous. I was searching for love in all the wrong places. … To be put through what I was put through, I feel like I was humiliated even more to have to go through a rape kit. I don't want another woman to have to go through this by herself."

Gray said she learned how to love and respect herself through her healing process. As a volunteer, she helps victims of abusive relationships cope with their experiences.

An emotional Lowe, the final speaker of the evening, discussed the case of Christy Forrester, who was repeatedly raped after allegedly being drugged by an individual at a party in August 2006. Lowe said afterward, at a hospital, Forrester requested a urine analysis to check for traces of a date rape narcotic. Lowe said since Missouri law does not include a urinalysis as part of a rape kit package, the results of the test, negative or positive, could not be used as evidence during prosecution. The suspected rapist was found guilty of a lesser charge of kidnapping and restraint.

"He won't be listed on the sexual predators list," Lowe said. "… It's important to take this night back, its important to take every night back so that all of our citizens … know that they'll be safe. It's also important we fight a metaphoric night. We fight the darkness that still exists in our institutions and our laws. And that's a much more complicated thing to fight. Christy has taken that fight on."

dcordill@unews.com