'Ignite the Night' raises awareness of domestic violence

By: Ed Board

Posted: 4/4/07

As various organizations around Denton gear up for "Ignite the Night," the event formerly known as "Take Back the Night," we here at the Daily applaud, ahead of time, those who plan to participate.
Amidst the panty drops and sock hops of months past, feminism still has a viable message; the safety of women. According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend per year to 3 million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year. Groups like Men Against Violence and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance do commendable work at raising awareness about domestic violence.
As an aside, why the name change? Has the Night been sufficiently taken back? If so, why is it being ignited? It doesn't seem all that nice to light something you just took back on fire. That seems, at least to us, like bad stewardship.
We hold no delusions as to the power of demonstrations like this. A potential rapist or domestic abuser isn't going to attend a rally such as this one and change his mind. What demonstrations like these do is empower people and show them their own inner strength to resist violence.
We don't assume that all domestic violence is always man on woman. Female on male domestic abuse isn't always physical, it is just as tragic, and unfortunately not as widely reported. For true equality to be reached all forms of violence must be recognized.