With few attendees and too few volunteers, the Take Back the Night Coalition may have held their final celebration of strength of women and girls Saturday night on Library Mall.
Coordinator Alana Brennan said without more volunteers for next year, Take Back the Night would most likely not continue past last weekend's 20th anniversary.
The event, part of Sexual Awareness Month, included speeches from community members and concluded with a march up State Street to the State Capitol.
The speech that drew the most response was that of UW-Madison Dean of Students Luoluo Hong, who was interrupted repeatedly by outbursts of applause. Hong focused her comments on defining patriarchy and the importance of moving past a patriarchal society.
\To critique patriarchy is not to say that men are bad [or women are better],"" Hong said. ""That's how dialogue gets shut down because people get defensive. We can continue to reduce the violence against women, but until we dismantle the system of patriarchy, our efforts will be fruitless.""
Hong added that it is because of patriarchy that rape is defined as a legal issue, not a human issue, and relying on the legal system to determine what constitutes sexual assault invalidates all the other experiences that go into attempted rape, which is no less traumatic.
An emotional section of the night came during the Women's Speakout, which gave survivors of rape or incest a chance to tell their stories to the audience. Those who spoke thanked the audience for their support and stressed the difference of being a victim of rape with that of being a survivor.
UW-Madison juniors Brandt Levitt and Sarah Minsloff said the evening had a good sentiment, but was poorly organized, so they were not surprised by the low turnout.
""Even things like flyers, sidewalk chalk or email list-serves could have been used,"" Levitt said. ""They could have had more support to make it a bigger deal.""
UW-Madison junior Jessica Herald agreed and said the most important thing is to let everyone know that the event is in danger of not being held next year.
""I think it's a great movement and it needs to continue,"" Herald said.
