Students 'take back the night'

Event educates about rape, violence

By: Heather Davenport

Posted: 4/16/07

A woman is raped every two minutes in the United States, according to FBI statistics. April is sexual assault awareness month. UMKC held its forth annual "Take Back the Night" event called "Kristin's Story" on April 15. This year, the Women's Center collaborated with Rockhurst University for the event, which was held on Rockhurst's campus. "Take Back the Night" intends to stop violence and rape against women.

Andrea Cooper was the guest speaker at the event. Cooper is the mother of 20-year-old Kristin Cooper, a victim of rape. Cooper came to speak to students about what happened to her daughter. Kristin was a Baker University student in 1995. One evening, she was asked by a friend to stay and watch a movie after a party and was then raped. Kristin later committed suicide.

Cooper shared what it was like for her husband and her to discover their only daughter "with no pulse and a gun in her hands."

"I felt the blood drain from my face," Cooper said. "I knew she was dead."

Cooper shared rape statistics and warning signs of depression including: continual sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary activities, decreased energy and fatigue, sleeping or eating problems, irritability and excessive crying, thoughts and talk of suicide, feelings of guilt, and cutting oneself, which is extremely high among sexual-abuse survivors.

Andrea Cooper has visited 315 college campuses around the country and spoke to nearly 80,000 students, faculty and administrators to share Kristin's story.

"Take Back the Night actually began in the 1970s by second-wave feminists who wanted to take back the night and make it safe for women," said Brenda Bethman, director of UMKC's Women's Center.

Kristin never told her parents about how she was violated and raped that night. She only confided in a few of her sorority sisters and closest girlfriends. After Kristin told her boyfriend, whom Cooper said she was head-over-heels in love with, he broke up with her. Kristin wrote about her pain in a spiral journal that was found next to her body. The journal contained five pages describing what it felt like to be raped.

"The pain I have now is not the breaking of my heart, but the loss of my soul," Kristin wrote. She also wrote, "Smiles cover the tears you cry inside."

As of now, one in four college women are victims of either rape or attempted rape, according to Cooper's presentation. Alcohol is a huge factor in these statistics.

"If you know some one who has been a victim of sexual assault, listen to them, don't judge. Give comfort, provide patience and understanding, and encourage her to take action and offer to go with her, but accept her choice of the solutions," Cooper said.

First-semester female college freshmen are at the highest risk for rape. It's a dangerous time called the "red zone," Cooper said.

The few friends Kristin told and who had heard her speak about suicide didn't tell anyone because they didn't want to betray Kristin's trust. Kristin's mother expressed that her daughter might have been mad about her friends telling, but would have eventually gotten over it and might still be alive today if someone had tried to get her help.

"A mad friend is better than a dead friend," Cooper said.

After Kristin's story was shared, the students who attended all held hands and went for a march around the Rockhurst quad chanting, "Take back the night, take back the night."

hdavenport@unews.com