April 24, 2014 starting at Tropicana Evansville Events Plaza In 2013, Albion Fellows Bacon Center had 513 people utilize services from the Sexual Assault Program. These numbers demonstrate a necessity to raise community awareness about rape. On Thursday, April 24, 2014, Albion Fellows Bacon Center will host the city’s 17th Annual Take Back the Night March to protest against sexual assault and rape. Registration for the March will begin at 6:00 p.m. at Tropicana Evansville Events Plaza. Marchers will start walking at 6:30 p.m. from Tropicana Evansville Events Plaza down the Ohio riverfront to the Four Freedoms Monument and back to the Tropicana plaza. Marchers will participate in a candlelight ceremony, and hear a celebration of survivor strength followed by a speak out where marchers can come forward to speak out against sexual violence. The topic of rape has been hidden in silence for too long, the March is an opportunity for our community to help survivors break the silence and become more aware of the impact and frequency of this crime. This year’s speaker will share an amazing story of his journey to become a survivor. He dealt with years of abuse; keeping the secret until a breaking point he finally told what had been happening to him. He repressed a lot of the memories of the abuse until his mid-20’s and had a hard time establishing good relationships with others. He continues to work on himself and is an amazing man who strives every day to be the best that he can be. Survivor will be available for interviews the day of the event. Please contact Christina Wicks to make arrangements. Take Back the Night is a community sponsored event. Our community sponsors include: Altstadt Office City, Hilltop Inn, B&S Home Improvements LLC, The Duell Family Kia, Holly’s House, Southwest Graphix, The Lampion Center, Deaconess Crosspointe, YWCA, Vanderburgh County Medical Society, FOP #73, FOP #148, River Bend Association, Eagle’s Women’s Auxiliary, Mark Cole’s Auto Glass and Tropicana Evansville. A woman is raped every 90 seconds in America. Albion is a non-profit agency serving victims of domestic and sexual violence. We provide emergency shelter, a 24-hour crisis line, short-term individual crisis counseling, support groups, and legal and medical advocacy to victims and their friends and family. These services are free of charge. Contact information is provided at the top of the release. Attached with this release is a copy of the event’s promotional flyer.
