OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For the 33rd year, Take Back the Night took center stage on the UW-Oshkosh campus.
“It’s going to take all of us to end sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence,” Reach Counseling Advocacy Director Ciara Hill said.
To emphasize the severity of the issue, several local agencies teamed up to hold a resource fair in honor of victims.
“Really geared toward making sure that those that are living within our community have access to resources that can help them during their healing journey,” Hill said.
Reach Counseling is one of those organizations. Hill said it’s not just for direct victims.
“It’s important to be aware of how to protect yourself, how to advocate for others that are impacted by violence,” Hill said. “I think you’re never too young, you’re never too old to learn and to grow.”
The resource fair was the first element in a night full of showing support. A march across campus followed, as well as a speech from a local LGBTQ advocacy group.
“We have disproportionate levels of violence within and toward our community when it comes to intimate partner violence and and sexual violence,” Keira Kowal Jett said.
For the 2023 event, there was a special emphasis on the LGBTQ community. Kowal Jett is the Community Education and Outreach Coordinator for Diverse and Resilient.
“Our voices are routinely left out of the story or disbelieved,” Kowal Jett said. “There are a lot of myths and stereotypes about who can get hurt and who usually does the harm. So a lot of us get missed.”
Kowal Jett wanted to both provide context, and share ways people can help.
“Giving directly to individuals who have a need and that might be food, transportation, finances, whatever that help may be,” Kowal Jett said. “And that’s a belief in a world where we’re all deserving.”
Kowal Jett said in Outagamie County, LGBTQ youth are three times as likely to experience intimate violence as their non-LGBTQ peers.
UW-Green Bay has its Take Back the Night tonight. Click here for more information.
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