Because each day an average of four women lose their lives to domestic violence and women are told to leave their partners when they are being abused and they are admonished for breaking up their families when they don't stay...

Because we are told if we are going to get raped, we might as well "relax and enjoy it" and we are told that "NO" really means "YES" and if we don't fight back then it was not rape and our friends and family tell us we should not have been where we were so provocatively dressed...

Because rape is violence, not sex, and because no one deserves to be raped or assaulted in any way and because we have a right to feel secure in our homes and in the streets and all women should live free from hate and violence...

Because 1 in 4 women will be raped in her lifetime and 84% of the survivors know their assailant...

Because there are still legal exemptions in some states that allow husbands to rape their wives and even children are not safe from abuse...

Because 1 in 12 men admit to having raped a women and only 5% of survivors report their assault to law enforcement and if we do report an assault, we are asked by police, the media, and the courts how we were dressed, where we were and if we were alone...

Because rape is used as a war tactic and women in our military are not safe from rape and sexual harassment...

Because 32% of men said it would do some women good to get raped and 57% of rapes happen on dates and violence against women is normalized by our own culture by magazines, television, movies, and ourselves...

Safety is a human right.

For these reasons and many, many more, we unite to TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!