What Take Back the Night Teaches Us About Survivor Support and Campus Sexual Violence Prevention

By: Colleen Finn, I Have The Right To Intern

Assumption University’s student wellness club, PAWS, held its annual Take Back the Night event on October fifteenth. At this event, student representatives from different sports teams and clubs on campus read poems about hope and resilience to the audience. Staff from counseling was also present to support students. Then, students were invited to the podium to share their own stories.

At the event, there was an art installation titled “An Empty Place at the Table” dedicated to individuals in Massachusetts who were victims of domestic violence in 2024. This installation, a table set for a formal meal with the stories of domestic violence victims written on place cards, and candles in the place of people at the table, invited viewers to honor the lives of these individuals and “remember them as more than a statistic.”

It was beautiful to see so many members of Assumption’s community come together to speak about sexual assault and support fellow students. “Being able to organize an event such as Take Back the Night is incredibly meaningful, not only to me personally but to the entirety of the Assumption community,” shared Francesca Reardon, the President of PAWS. “This event allows any survivors in the school community to share their story on their terms in a safe, nonjudgmental environment, empowering them on their healing journey.”

The event at Assumption is an example of many events inspired by the organization Take Back the Night, which advocates for an end to sexual and domestic violence. The University of Michigan’s Take Back the Night chapter says the movement has its origins in the 1970s, when college students across America began to protest violence against women in response to events like the murder of Philadelphia microbiologist Susan Alexander Speeth. The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s chapter of Take Back the Night posits that 1877 gender-based violence protests in London or the candlelit vigil at Belgium’s 1976 International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women may have been influences, too.

The History Behind Take Back the Night

Though it is hard to pinpoint an exact date or event that started Take Back the Night, it is generally agreed that this movement was solidified by the advocacy of the San Francisco-based organization Women Against Violence in Pornography and the Media Records, or WAVPM. The phrase “Take Back the Night” was first used by WAVPM for their protests in San Francisco’s Red Light District, which usually sought to call attention to the impact of violence depicted in pornography and sex shows. In 1980, feminist scholar and co-founder of Global Fund for Women, Laura Lederer, used the phrase in her book Take Back the Night: Women on Pornography, which analyzed the connection between gender-based violence and pornography. Take Back the Night protests began to take place all over North America during this time.

According to the New York Historical Museum, the first Take Back the Night protests “aimed to reclaim spaces in which women felt unsafe.” WAVPM events also provided a way for survivors to share their stories, which would become a hallmark of Take Back the Night. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Take Back the Night marches and rallies became increasingly common on college campuses in the United States and Canada. The New York Historical Museum describes “candlelight vigils and speeches by survivors” as common features of these events. Today, the tradition of vigils and speeches provide a safe space for a community to honor and support survivors. For example, the event at Assumption had a designated time for survivors to share their stories and reflected the vigil tradition with a candlelit art installation.

After decades of activism, Take Back the Night was officially incorporated as an organization by activist Katie Koestner in 2001. In addition to serving as Take Back the Night’s executive director, Koestner has advised the development of sexual misconduct response systems, given keynote presentations about sexual assault to corporate, military, and college audiences, and spoken at Capitol Hill about the importance of anti-sexual violence legislation. Koestner’s website details the story of how she became the first woman to publicly speak up about the issue of date rape and how colleges need to change the way they respond to sexual assault on campus. Her testimony helped encourage values such as believing survivors and holding institutions accountable. These values are central to today’s activism.

Today, Take Back the Night continues to inspire communities and student bodies to protest sexual violence while supporting survivors. This organization and its events build and reclaim spaces for survivors in a culture where sexual violence is a central issue. Despite the work of activists, the broader political landscape does not value the voices of survivors the way it should. Take Back the Night is important because it empowers survivors through the collective support of a community, instilling a sense of support in them. 

Student Activism Keeps the Movement Alive

An especially important aspect of Take Back the Night is its student involvement. Like many movements, its strength comes from the large-scale participation of college students.. On a micro scale, Assumption University is an example of a school aiming to create an environment where survivors feel safe. Through the presence of organizations like I Have The Right To and Worcester-based rape crisis center Pathways for Change, as well as the student-led club PAWS, students are educated and encouraged to support survivors. In April 2025, Assumption hosted a Title IX Summit, featuring keynote speakers and educational presentations from I Have The Right To about sexual assault, consent, Title IX, and safety. A smaller consent summit was hosted in October, with presentations mainly focusing on fostering safe and respectful communities through attention to consent. The frequency of events like these on campus have contributed to a supportive environment and an interest from students in career paths that focus on helping survivors. 

The other element that makes Take Back the Night impactful is its centering of survivor stories, providing survivors with a space to discuss their experience and connect with others over shared experiences. An example of a project that has a similar aim is the website Survivor Spaces Community. The organizations It’s On Us and End Rape on Campus collaborated to create an online place that allows survivors to post anonymous stories about their experiences, as well as inspiring messages to encourage healing as a group. 

Organizations like Take Back the Night and other student-led groups play an important role in the ongoing fight against sexual violence. Giving survivors a way to connect with other members of their community is just an example of Take Back the Night’s work. Over its history, the organization has addressed multiple sides of the sexual violence issue, starting with violence in media and evolving to cover violence in colleges and universities. As Take Back the Night has grown, student activism has gained a prominent place in the movement. Student advocacy is one of many ways Take Back the Night seeks to support survivors.

Bibliography

Survivor Spaces Community, https://stories.itsonus.org/en.

“History of Take Back the Night.” Take Back the Night Ann Arbor, https://tbtnannarbor.org/about/history-of-take-back-the-night/. Accessed 23 January 2026.

Insogna, Alison, Reardon, Francesca. PAWS Executive Board. 28 January 2026.

“International History of TBTN.” Take Back the Night, https://takebackthenight.org/history/. Accessed 23 January 2026.

“Laura Lederer, Co-Founder.” Global Fund for Women, https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/who-we-are/vision-mission/laura-lederer-co-founder/. Accessed 23 January 2026.

“Meet Katie Koestner.” Katie Koestner, https://katiekoestner.com/biography/. Accessed 23 January 2026.

“Take Back the Night.” Women & the American Story, New York Historical, https://wams.nyhistory.org/end-of-the-twentieth-century/a-conservative-turn/take-back-the-night/#teaching. Accessed 23 January 2026.