"Hotty Toddy It's My Body"

By: Quentin Winstine

April is sexual assault awareness month and the University of Mississippi is getting involved. In a few weeks Ole Miss will hosting its annual Take Back the Night march and information session. This will be only one of several TBTN events during the year. It will take place April 19th at 5:30 p.m. and will include speakers, information tables, door prizes, a march beginning at the Lyceum, and a candle light vigil.

Linda Abbott, director of the Violence Prevention Office, says that there will not be a key note speaker this year. Instead representatives from the Oxford Police Department and University Police Department will speak briefly, according to Abbott.

Family Crisis Services, The Feminists Majority, and the Isom Center are just a few of the groups that will be at the event to hand out information. They will help educate those who come about the dangers of stalking, dating violence, and sexual abuse.

The TBTN event has been around for close to 30 years and was started to bring awareness to sexual violence. Mary Carruth, director of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, appreciates what the University of Mississippi is doing, but thinks more should be done. Carruth says the city of Athens, Georgia did a lot to educate citizens about sexual violence and wishes Oxford did the same.

The event has seen an increase in number of participants every year and Abbott says that she hopes that this trend will continue this year. The Violence Prevention Office will begin advertising soon in hopes to increase numbers this year to help increase the campus and city community's knowledge of sexual violence.

To learn more about Take Back the Night, you can visit their webiste here and you can visit the Violence Prevention Center's website here.