DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

 

The nonprofit sexual trauma recovery center Hope Harbor will hold the annual “Take Back the Night” event 5-8 p.m. Saturday with activities running concurrently between Fountain Square Park and The Capitol as part of Sexual Assault Prevention Month.

“Take Back the Night,” open to the public, will begin at Fountain Square Park. Programming at The Capitol starts at 6 p.m.

The event this year carries the theme “Your power is in your story,” Hope Harbor Community Outreach Coordinator Chloe Paddack said. People will be sharing personal stories as survivors of sexual assault with the audience inside The Capitol, as some share stories on others’ behalf, according to event organizers.

“It’s really important that we are sharing these survivor stories and giving survivors an opportunity to feel comfortable sharing their stories as a part of their experience of being able to reconcile with them, (and) also being able to grow and to overcome a lot of those challenges,” Paddack said.

Toward the end, there’ll be a candlelight vigil to honor survivors of sexual violence and those who’ve lost their lives due to sexual violence or causes associated with it, Paddack said.

Tabling will provide free and confidential community resources to help victims of sexual assault and to guide people on ways they can be allies.

“The focus is on empowering survivors to take back their voice and to share their story in their own words,” Madariaga said. “For years, and even now, sexual violence is a topic we don’t want to talk about — it stays within the family or stays within the community, and a lot of blame is put on the victim — and this way we can allow them to not be afraid to share their story and not have that blame put onto them.”

The event will hold a range of activities, with some particularly intended to be family-friendly.

There’ll be two story-times where kids can learn about resilience and speaking up, Paddack said. The Western Kentucky University Counseling Center will provide games of Plinko, WKU Sexual Assault Services Coordinator Elizabeth Madariaga said.

Other activities include a booth where people can take an oath for violence prevention, a station where people can make shield-shaped posters, and a labyrinth people can use as a grounding exercise, organizers said. There’ll also be face-painting and food trucks throughout the evening.

Numerous organizations — many within WKU — are holding other events this month:

• WKU Student Activities is holding a Hope Harbor supply drive throughout April, with donations accepted 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Downing Student Union, Madariaga said. They’re requesting donations such as journals, solid soap, solid deodorant, feminine hygiene products, pleasant-smelling toiletries, hair brushes and combs geared toward long hair. Items like the journals can be used in clinical ways, such as with therapists, and can help provide supplies for those at hospitals, Madariaga said.

Throughout the month, the Intercultural Student Engagement Center Gallery is featuring the exhibit “I Said What I Said,” open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It displays quotes and words from survivors’ stories with audio clippings. It’s the first time the annual exhibit has featured a visual display with audio recordings, Madariaga said.

• April 7: An all-men panel of WKU professors, WKU students and other community members will hold an interactive discussion to help college men learn about different types of sexual assault, how bystanders can intervene and how to support survivors.

While women are invited and going to be present,“we have found that in this kind of situation, men hearing from men is very helpful (for) how to be a man and an ally,” Madariaga said.

The session, which includes a Q&A with campus officials, will take place 5 p.m. at the Downing Student Union, room 3024.

• April 16: WKU Student Wellness will hold a hands-on class on self-defense and de-escalation techniques led by a trained member of Student Wellness from 5-6 p.m. at the Preston Center Multipurpose Room.

• April 17: There’ll be a special viewing of the ISEC Gallery at 11 a.m. with remarks by Martha Sales, the vice president of Student Experience and the dean of students, Madariaga said. It’ll double as an opportunity for people to ask about the exhibit.

• April 29: A wellness event will provide relaxation activities and a safe space to express emotions 1-4:30 p.m. at the WKU South Lawn. It’s additionally intended as a de-stressor for students prior to finals week, Madariaga said. Among the activities, there’ll be sidewalk chalk bubbles, relaxing stress balls and Plinko for prizes.