Take Back The Night to Light Up Town Hall

Published: November 1, 2020

Domestic violence is a serious issue across the globe; 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience some form of severe intimate partner physical violence in their life, but more than half of these cases go unreported. Countless organizations and foundations seek to eliminate sexual and domestic violence. Take Back The Night (TBTN) is one such organization, and they strive to create safe communities and respectful relationships through awareness events and initiatives.

Here at Needham High School, there is a Take Back The Night club. Typically, the club hosts an annual event in early November since October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. At the event there are guest speakers, often survivors of sexual assault and violence, live music, raffles, and food. The goal of the event is to raise awareness of domestic violence.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the club is unable to host this event in person at the town hall. Instead, they are planning to do a virtual event later on in February. Despite the delay, Needham’s Take Back The Night club will not let November go by without taking some sort of action. After much consideration, the club decided to “light up” the town hall purple, the color associated with domestic violence awareness, from November 5th-11th. This shows support to local survivors and sends the message that Needham will not tolerate domestic violence. The club will also place “silent witnesses” outside the town hall. Silent witnesses are human cut-outs that have a story of someone who died due to domestic violence.

Be sure to check out the lights and silent witnesses at the town hall 11/5-11/11! If you are interested in joining the Needham Take Back The Night Club, you can fill out the google form in the club’s Instagram bio (@needham_tbtn) or contact one of the club co-chairs or advisors. Their contact information is below. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Co-Chairs:

Sydney Resnick, snr221@students.needham.k12.ma.us
Jocelyn Shaw, jms221@students.needham.k12.ma.us
Jillian Tobasky, jnt211@students.needham.k12.ma.us
Bayley Basson, bdb221@students.needham.k12.ma.us
Hannah Fleckner, hlf221@students.needham.k12.ma.us
Alex Goodale, arg221@students.needham.k12.ma.us

Advisors:

Ms. Cox, elizabeth_cox@needham.k12.ma.us
Mr. Gallaghrer, patrick_gallagher@needham.k12.ma.us
Deb Jacob, dhjacob@comcast.net

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