Chester, Pa. – The Widener Center
for Violence Prevention will host, Take Back the Night, a day of events
that promotes awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence on Tuesday,
March 31 starting at 10 a.m. in the University Center (14th Street
between Melrose Avenue and Walnut Street).
The day will begin with workshops
and the Clothesline Project, a display of T-shirts created by survivors of
abuse and those who have lost loved ones to violence. Guests will also have the
opportunity to create their own T-shirts in dedication to victims.
Several workshops will be held
throughout the day in University Center, including a workshop on Title IX and
on self-defense with MBMA Karate.
At 7:30 p.m. there will be a keynote
lecture featuring Katie Koestner, founder of Take Back the Night
Foundation, who will speak about alcohol, sexual assault, and responsible
decision making. The first survivor of date rape to speak out nationally at age
18, Koestner was the subject of an HBO movie and has appeared on the cover of TIME
magazine and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Each session is free and open to the
public. For more information, please
contact Christie or Sara (clrosenzweig@mail.widener.edu
or srleonelli@mail.widener.edu).
Take Back the Night is an internationally recognized event intended as a
protest and direct action against rape and other forms of violence towards
women. In recent years, Widener University has expanded the scope of the event
to demonstrate a zero-tolerance mentality towards all acts of violence against
both men and women, on campus and in the community at large.