PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Dozens of men and women walked slowly across the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus Thursday evening while holding candles and guarding each flame against the breeze in support of domestic violence awareness.
UMPI’s Student Organization of Social Workers held its 4th annual Take Back The Night Again awareness candlelight vigil on Oct. 12.
Representatives of the Aroostook Mental Health Center, Hope and Justice Project, Micmac Women’s Advocacy Center and New Brunswick’s Maliseet First Nation joined the dozens of students who were escorted by members of the Presque Isle Police Department as they made their way from Gentile Hall to South Hall.
“AMHC services are free and confidential,” Wendy Page, AMHC community educator and advocate, said. “We have a 24/7 support line that anybody can call and access. If you want to be anonymous that’s up to you. We provide support and advocacy, we never tell anyone what to do, we give them options and support, whatever they decide, and how to move forward and heal.”
Roughly 14,000 Maine residents are affected by sexual violence per calendar year, according to the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The organization estimates that 1 in 5 Mainers will be a victim of sexual assault, Page said.
UMPI social work professor and licensed clinical social worker, Shirley Rush, is also an advocate for those in need.
“I always give whoever has been victimized the choice about whether or not they want to report,” Rush said. “Ideally, we need the reports, but the sacrifice for anyone that has been put in that position, they have to be ready for that, and know what they’re going into.”
A good number of individuals don’t reach out because they think no one will believe them, Page said.
“We want individuals to come forward so we can support them,” Page added. “It doesn’t matter if this happened today, 5 years ago, 50 years ago. And our service is available to both genders.”
“Take Back the Night is a way to give victims their voices back, even if they’re still struggling to find it,” Kassidy Morin, vice president of the Student Organization of Social Workers, said.
What makes the event important is that it provides an opportunity to start that dialogue on campus about sexual violence and assault, Morin added.
