Sexual assault victims to Take Back the Night
Survivors can speak out and receive understanding at a rally Thursday.
By KAREN DAVISON
Published April 3, 2005
TEMPLE TERRACE - Survivors of sexual assault will come together Thursday at Temple Terrace United Methodist Church for the third annual Take Back the Night Rally.
The event, which also marks Sexual Assault Awareness Day, will include a candlelight ceremony and a chance for survivors to speak publicly.
"Survivors often don't have people that believe them," said Barbara McCormick, director of Abuse, Prevention, Psychotherapy, and Life Education Services at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which will host the event with the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence.
That won't happen at the rally. The people who hear them will offer total acceptance. McCormick said the evening is about survivors speaking out as a group and people coming together to understand.
Scheduled speakers at the church at 4300 Busch Blvd. include a woman who says she was held captive and raped on a night in October 2003 by a man she had dated for two months. The next morning she called the police, whom she described as supportive.
"The majority of rape victims don't report it. The majority of children don't tell," McCormick said. Eighty percent of victims know the person who assaulted them. It could be a neighbor or a relative. Victims may be ashamed and afraid that people won't believe them. And often, victims blame themselves for being in the wrong place, not locking the door, or putting themselves in a vulnerable situation by drinking alcohol.
McCormick said these are some of the same reasons why many victims don't get counseling. Others may want to forget. Yet counseling and support groups can help them take back control.
Survivors who attend the rally need only speak if they feel comfortable and can say whatever they like, whether thanking somebody, reading a poem or telling their stories, McCormick said. Others may silently offer support.
A reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 7 to empower survivors and to remember victims who died. Capt. Bob Staehle of the University of South Florida police will give the keynote address. Counselors will be available if anyone needs support.
For more information about the event or about counseling, call APPLE Services at (813) 264-9955. Victims of sexual assault in Hillsborough County can call 211 from any land-line telephone to talk with a counselor.