August 2, 1980

Cleveland Women Take Back the Night

All over the world women will be staging Take Back the Night marches in the month of August. The Cleveland march will be on August 2 at 7:30 p.m. on Public Square downtown. Speakers and a rally will start the march with workshops and a celebration afterwards. Workshops will be on the topics of family rape, self defense, battered women, rape, security on RTA, and sexual harassment. There will also be workshops by the Women of All Red Nations and the Pro-Choice Action Committee.

One of the speakers will be Andrea Dworkin from New York City, author of Woman Hating and Our Blood. She has been researching the connection between pornography and violence against women and will soon publish a book on the subject. Andrea will be at Coventry Books from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on August 3 for a signing party.

Last year over 800 women in Cleveland joined together to prove their power and solidarity in the largest gathering of Cleveland women in years.

Take Back the Night organizers want to use the energy generated from this year's march to work year round to stop violence against women. Take Back the Night is committed to tackling concrete issues that affect women's daily safety.

Security on RTA is our first focus. A representative from RTA has been invited to the march and will be presented with our demand for a public meeting in September on safety on RTA. Most women depend upon public transportation and yet are not provided with adequate security. Harassment, assault and rape are frequent occurrences at bus and rapid stops. Riding buses or the rapid after rush hour is a frightening experience. Deserted rapid stops with no ticket taker or security make women targets for assault. Women in Cleveland have the right to safe public transportation.

Take Back the Night organizers need your support, time, money, and help. Please be sure to give us your name and address after the rally so we can inform you of coming events. T-shirts, tank tops and posters will be sold at the celebration.

If you would like to be active in Take Back the Night, volunteer as a peacekeeper at the march, or just want more information, please call Take Back the Night at 475-0075 or 696-2328 or 641-9481, or write 1730 East 33rd Street, 44114.

Why We March

Every woman knows the fear of walking alone at night. Rape and the threat of violence are a part of women's day-to-day lives. Physical, verbal and emotional harassment confront women on the street, in our jobs, and in our homes.

Violence against women cuts across all lines of class, race, and age. Every woman is a potential victim. In the U.S., a rape occurs every nine minutes. Almost 1,200 rape-related calls were made to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center last year. According to the FBI, 80 percent of all rapes are not reported. The Task Force on Battered Women reports that a woman is beaten by a husband or boyfriend every 19 seconds. But we are told that these individual acts of violence are isolated cases.

Women's bodies are used in humiliating and violent ways in the media. But we are told that it sells products.

Violence against women occurs so frequently that we've lost our capacity to feel safe in our own world. We try to structure our lives around the daily fear. Women must believe that personal safety is our

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basic right. No man has the right to physically or emotionally abuse a woman. Each of us has the right to be free from attack and abuse wherever we are no matter what time of day or night. We all have the right to fight back against violence to ourselves and to other women. Individuals and community groups must take responsibility to confront, condemn, and act to stop violence in all its forms, wherever and whenever it occurs.

AKE BACK THE NIGHT

CLEVELAND WOMEN

MARCH & RALLY!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 7.30PM PUBLIC SQUARE DEMAND AN END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN' wh' from the by marching together were which makes tear apar

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Graphic Design by MB Camp

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Photo: 1979 March, by Louise Luczak

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A women's march to Take Back the Night makes our communities aware of the fear with which all women live. We march to say that violence is a part of our lives that we will no longer tolerate. We march to recognize and celebrate the strength of women who are working daily in shelters, services, and other groups which are organized to stop violence against

women.

We march at night because it is the time of our greatest fear, a time when women are confined to their homes for fear of attack on the street. We march at night to say together: We will fight our fear. We will Take Back the Night!

Why A Women's March

A women's march helps to build a movement which will end violence against women. More street lights and increased police patrols are not enough to make us safe. It will take women working together to create support systems for victims, to begin direct action groups against violence and to educate our communities. It will take women learning to rely on ourselves and other women for our protection. It will take building our confidence and developing respect for ourselves and our own strength. Our march symbolizes this effort. We march together to feel our power. We march to say: We are not alone.

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