Humber College hosts Take Back the Night to call for an end to sexual and gender-based violence

Participants chanted and cheered as they marched across campus

By Chris Clay on
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People march while holding signs that have writing on them including one that reads Take Back the Night.

Hundreds of members of the Humber College community showed their support for survivors while denouncing sexual assault and sexual violence as part of Take Back the Night.

More than 350 people participated in the eighth annual event that was held at the Learning Resource Commons building at North Campus on September 21.

Chris Mahon, coordinator, Sexual Violence Prevention and Education at Humber, said Take Back the Night had resources available and activities for students to participate in while they learned about supporting an end to sexual and gender-based violence. Representatives from a variety of Humber departments and organizations participated and there were remarks from Associate Dean of Student Wellness and Equitable Learning, Sterling Crowe.  

Student Abigail Vivian performed an original choreography as a representation of her healing journey.

People sitting around a table use markers to create signs to carry with them as they take part in Take Back the Night at Humber

“The goals of an event like this are twofold: first, to make people aware of the Consent Peer Education Program and the programming that we do on campus around consent, sexual violence awareness, sexual health and more,” said Mahon. “The second is to provide students the opportunity to learn more about resources, learn who to reach out to, and not feel alone in dealing with difficult life circumstances. I do think we achieved both of those goals in different ways.”

Earlier that week, a Health and Support fair was held at North Campus where organizations from around the GTA were invited to share information about their resources to the Humber community. As well, speaker Samantha Bitty hosted a Sexy Sexual Health trivia game and talked with students about consent and sexual health.

"I really appreciate all the community support that we received with Take Back the Night this year,” said Mahon. “It is so wonderful to see the community come together to support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. To me, it makes the campus feel welcoming and supportive, and I hope that is what our student attendees are getting from this event too.”

A brown banner that reads Take Back the Night: Your Body Mind Time.

The event concluded with the community marching across campus while cheering and chanting to support the elimination of violence and everyone’s right to feel safe.

To find out more, visit the Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Support webpage.