Take Back the Night was held March 28 to round off Women’s History Month and led into Sexual Assault Awareness Month at Oakland University.

The event, sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center, consisted of a rally, march and  speak-out.

The speeches at the rally addressed rape culture in the U.S. and post traumatic stress disorder in trauma patients. Two counsolers from Graham Health Center, Tony McMahan and Laura Richardson, were there to explain why sexual trauma patients experience PTSD.

After the rally, the group marched through campus.

In an effort to make themselves heard and visible, the group chanted, “We have the power, we have the might, the streets are ours, take back the night.”

The speak-out followed the march. Several survivors stood to tell their stories.

One woman told her story of being a 13-year-old girl who was molested by an adult that she trusted.  It took her a year to report the crime, and when she did, she found she was only one of 21 young girls who had reported him.

Another survivor told of the sexual abuse she and her sibling experienced at the hands of a family member. She was called obscenities and a liar when she spoke out about it.

“Allowing people to tell their stories gives them a sense of control,” Grace Wojcik, the coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality center, said. “By giving them space to tell exactly what happened and own it without someone saying, ‘No you’re wrong or maybe you’re misunderstood or you sent some signals that were misunderstood.’ It helps them to feel like their feelings are more valid.”

Nan Gilman has been a police officer for 27 years and said she has seen a lot of change in the way sexual assault cases are handled.

“The focus of the investigation was to prove that it didn’t happen now it is to prove that it did happen. It was victim-focused now its victim centered and offender-focused,” Gilman said.

Wojcik and Gilman, along with other members OU’s staff, are trying to bring the Havens MVP program to Oakland. The program is an intensive workshop that will focus on bystander intervention.

Wojcik said the bystander intervention part of the training to help people understand how to intervene when they see a potentially harmful situation.

“If you at a party, and you see someone being plied with alcohol, instead of letting that person leave with the person who is supplying all that alcohol, you should find their friends and make sure they get home safe. Because alcohol is a factor in a lot of sexual assaults, when you see something like that chances are that is a predatory situation,” Wojcik said.