Blog 2

Many women are victims of violence whether it is voiced or not it remains an issue within society. There are many programs in the community for women victims of abuse, so women can tell their story and get the support that they need. One program that I found particularly interesting is Take Back the Night. Take Back the Night is a program that takes a stand against sexual violence, specifically against women. It first began in October of 1975 in Philadelphia because women walking home alone at night had become a community issue. Although 1975 was the first documented event, in 2001 a woman named Katie Koestner initiated a mission of Take Back the Night. She spoke on behalf of the program nationally and internationally about date rape. The mission statement of this program is as follows: To end sexual violence in all forms and support survivors of sexual violence  (Take Back The Night, 2009). Another part of Take Back The Night is a program called Shatter The Silence which is a group of survivors, supporters and advocates that tell their stories and try to eliminate violence against women within communities (Take Back The Night, 2009) Individuals all have different views on the reasoning for violence against women. Some research provided me with the following: women have suffered violence due to discrimination of their race, ethnicity, sexual identity, class, age and social status (cite website) Fortunately there are many programs aside from Take Back The Night that offer immediate support. Some programs include The National Sexual Assault Hot line, National Domestic Violence Hot line and many more that can be found on the Take Back the Night website. The wonderful aspect of Take Back the Nigh is that they put on events that show awareness and support the causes of sexual violence, while promoting to end violence against women. A successful program was a Take Back The Night Event at Georgia Southern University in 2010. This event was a rally to raise awareness of sexual assault. I have inserted a clip of the evening events.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhSjoj1BO-k

Both Brown and Homan talk about community awareness and coming together in their chapters. Homan spoke a lot about being a change agent. As a social worker the job entails taking a part in assisting with community change (Homan). Individuals in need look to social workers for change in their lives; social workers promote change for their clients to make a better life for them. Two topics that Homan discussed in the chapter that directly related to community change was research and education and community organization. .Research and education involves testing theories and discovering information to help explain issues within society to their clients that are in need. (Homan) Homan also talked about community organization which is defined as bringing people together to improve the inadequate conditions they face.  In the chapter Brown wrote he discussed groups and their responsibilities. One thing that he said that I really liked was that it takes an entire group to come together and be responsible for one individual to feel secure and that change is occurring. (Brown) He also talked about how it is important to help ones in need if possible. Many individuals do not realize it but helping others will only turn good in the end when you are the individual in need. It is on the same thought as giving back to the community.  Both Homan and Brown discussed community awareness with a lot of thought and explanation. As a student studying macro practice I feel that it is important to understand the community, why things happen and the benefit of coming together as a community to promote change.