Hoping to draw a crowd for a procession through Pottsville, Schuylkill Women In Crisis plans a night of events rallying the public to fight "crimes of silence," Sarah T. "Sally" Casey, SWIC executive director, said Monday.
The first "Take Back The Night" event in Schuylkill County, which works toward an end to domestic and sexual violence, will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday at the bus loop at Union Station, 300 S. Centre St.
Take Back The Night, based in Wilmington, Del., is a 501(c)3 publicly-funded charity. Its mission is to end sexual violence in all forms by lending support to survivors, according to its website at takebackthenight.org
It's been a while since SWIC has done a large-scale public event like this.
"Maybe as far back as the early 2000s," Casey said.
The Pottsville-based nonprofit group, founded in 1983, provides services to victims of domestic violence in the county. Since 2008, the organization has been occupied with a $2 million expansion project, in which it moved its administrative offices to a new site and expanded its shelter space.
The upcoming event was started with a suggestion by Aliah Roseman, a copy editor at The Republican-Herald.
A May 2011 graduate of Keystone College, Scranton, Roseman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, in communications arts and humanities. While a student, she attended TBTN events at the University of Scranton.
"Scranton has a pretty large 'Take Back The Night' rally. And I figured Pottsville was a large enough area where we could put our own together," Roseman said Tuesday.
Roseman took the idea to SWIC in October. Since then, she's generated interest from students at McCann School of Business and Technology, Pottsville, and Penn State Schuylkill, Schuylkill Haven. Those schools are co-sponsoring the event, Casey said.
Casey and Roseman aren't sure what the turnout will be.
"I'm hoping for between 50 and 100," Roseman said.
"I think a lot of it will depend on the weather. I think 50 is more realistic, just because it's hard to do things the first year," Casey said.
The procession will walk eight blocks to the Schuylkill County Courthouse, 401 N. Second St. "There will be guest speakers and an opportunity for survivors and supporters to share their voices. They will have an open forum," Casey said.
The first documented TBTN event in the United States took place as a candlelight procession through the streets of Philadelphia in October 1975. Citizens of Philadelphia rallied together after the murder of young microbiologist, Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed by a stranger a block from her home while walking by herself, according to takebackthenight.org.
"TBTN's supporters have always understood the power of speaking out. Rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse and domestic violence are often labeled 'crimes of silence' because of low reporting rates and social discomfort with their public discussion. Advocates at rallies, marches, candlelight vigils and speakouts around the globe embody the spirit of TBTN to empower and support survivors, raise awareness, help those in pain and assert that it is wrong for people to live in fear," Casey said.