TAKE BACK THE NIGHT
The first Take Back the Night event began in England in 1877, as a women only protest against the violence and fear women encountered walking the streets at night. The first Take Back the Night March in the united States was held in San Francisco, in 1978, to protest violence against women, particularly sexual assault. Since then, Take Back the Night events have spread across the nation broadening in perspective and taking on many forms. Several CCVR agencies are proud participants in the annual Take Back The Night March and Rally sponsored by the Jean Nidetch Women s Center and held on the University of Nevada Las Vegas Campus in October.
THE CLOTHESLINE PROJECT
The Clothesline Project began with 31 shirts, displayed on the village green in Hyannis, Massachusetts, in October 1990, as part of the annual Take Back the night March and Rally. Today, the project has grown to include dozens of programs nationwide and internationally, with an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 shirts. During the public display, a clothesline is hung with shirts. Each shirt is decorated to honor female survivors of adult and childhood sexual assault and abuse. It is the very process of designing a shirt that gives survivors a new voice with which to expose an often horrific and unspeakable experience that has dramatically altered the course of their lives. The Clothesline Project is housed at The Rape Crisis Center and is displayed during Take Back the Night March and Rally, Sexual Assault Awareness Month and at fairs and other events throughout Clark County. If you would like to design a shirt in honor of a survivor, please call The Rape Crisis Center at 385-2153.