Lauren Justice
Thousands marched through thunderstorms on Sept. 17 in response to a brutal sexual assault that occurred on the Capital City bike path.
For Kathy Miner, late September always brings back memories of sexual assault.
She was 34 years old when she survived an attack in Madison on Sept. 24, 1985 — a crime that occurred just days before local anti-violence advocates had planned to hold a rally to protest sexual assault.
Miner didn’t attend — she was still “too afraid to go out,” she says. But as she began the slow process of healing, she found strength in activism, rallying with other survivors at Take Back the Night protests.
Take Back the Night began as a grassroots movement in the 1970s and ’80s as a second wave feminist response to gendered violence and sexual assault.
But now, 30 years later, the fight still isn’t over.
Miner joined an estimated 3,000 people at a rally last week held in support of a 33-year-old woman who on Sept. 12 was beaten, raped and left for dead on the Capital City bike path near North Livingston Street.
“I look around and I just think, here we are again — or still,” Miner told Isthmus at the rally. “When will it end?”
Protesters, armed with banners, signs, raingear and righteous indignation, marched from Burr Jones Field along the bike path to the site of the assault. Illuminated by the glow of cell phone screens, bike lights and frequent bursts of lightning, thousands chanted, demanding justice for sexual assault perpetrators and an end to “rape culture” — attitudes and behaviors that trivialize sexual violence and promote patriarchy as a cultural norm.
“However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no,” they chanted.
The bike path assault has shocked the community for its brutality and its randomness and for the fact that it occurred in an area that many bike path users previously considered “safe.”
“I know the bike path well, and there are definitely areas where I get nervous, but the area where the attack happened was not one of them,” said Stacy Iruk, 31, who attended the rally with her mother. “This made me realize that maybe none of the areas are very safe.”
But last Thursday night’s demonstration was a call to action — to “take back” the bike path and make it safe again.
The message to perpetrators of sexual violence was clear: “Our bodies, our lives, we will not be terrorized,” the crowd chanted.
“It’s important to show that we’re not going to be afraid,” said Megan Brandl, 36, who traveled from the west side to attend the rally.
Longtime activist Kate Morand, 59, remembers when Take Back the Night was largely a women’s cause. But attendees on Thursday included a significant number of men of all ages.
“This is not just a women’s issue,” Morand said. “It’s a people issue.”
Miner says the shift in demographics is heartening — it brings hope to people like her, who have been fighting for justice and equality for decades: “It’s almost like passing the torch.”
Out of every 100 rapes in the U.S.
32 get reported to the police
7 lead to an arrest
2 lead to felony convictions
2 perpetrators go to prison
98 rapists walk free
Source: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
