About

Every year since 1978, a rally to protest sexual violence is held on the University of Michigan Diag. Survivors and their supporters along with fellow students and community members come together to raise their voices and raise awareness about sexual assault. After the rally, a march is held going through the streets of campus and the city of Ann Arbor.  This rally, as well as our other events, is put on by volunteers made up of community members and students from the University of Michigan.  You can find out more on our Volunteer page.

History of Take Back the Night    Media and Press Release

Mission Statement:
The Ann Arbor Take Back the Night march
and rally is an opportunity to speak out against all forms of sexual violence in our community. The goals of this event are to:

Provide an environment of support and healing wherein survivors are
empowered to express their experiences

To raise awareness of the ways sexual violence is a force of
oppression used to perpetuate racism, sexism, etc.

To build a network of individuals committed to creating a community free
of sexual violence.

To make people aware of and change rape culture.

Affirmation – 11-15-2021

Recently at the University of Michigan several incidents around sexual violence have come to the forefront, including the case brought against the University by the survivors of Dr. Robert Anderson and a situation with a student in the Master’s program in the Ford School of Public Policy and School of Social Work who has a previous history of sexual violence at another university.  

University Students Against Rape (USAR) and Standing Tough Against Rape Society (STARS) stand by all survivors of sexual violence.  Our mission is to provide a safe space for survivors and their allies to come together to find hope and healing and to recognize how truly important that is to survivors.  We also recognize the path to healing is different for everyone. We offer events where fellow survivors can share their experiences to show that you can heal and how they went through that journey. In addition, we provide other organizations that offer help, such as in the form of therapy, an opportunity to share information about their services.  We celebrate healing and give survivors the space to celebrate their journey. 

We also recognize that institutions through their actions and policies, knowingly or inadvertently, can make a situation worse by offering predators protection. We ask that all institutions, companies, and organizations take a look at their policies and procedures to make sure that they are putting survivors first and making it safe for those affected by sexual violence to come forward when it happens.  If a survivor or an ally of the survivor feels there will be retaliation within the organization or from fellow members if this is reported, this is not a safe space.  We also recognize that there is a safe way to report, and this must be known to all who are part of organizations. 

USAR and STARS always put survivors first.  Our energy and time is focused on providing these safe spaces and empowering survivors to heal.  We will always focus on restorative actions and events and hope to make a space around us where survivors know they are heard, believed and supported.