The Night Bleeds Purple

Thursday, November 14, marked the 13th annual Take Back The Night event. Take Back The Night (TBTN) is a club devoted to preventing domestic and sexual violence, specifically against women and children. The evening began with a video from Needham High School Alumni, Aly Raisman. The Olympic gymnast and activist for body positivity had spoke about her own experiences with sexual assault during the 2017 sentencing trial against sports physician Larry Nassar. After his sentence to 40 to 125 years in prison in February 2018, Raisman continues to be a stark advocate for all feminist issues. Although she could not be there for the actual event, Raisman did send a sweet video to the club leaders, saying how important Take Back The Night is, and what outstanding work the club members are doing.

Following Raisman’s kind words, Needham police officer, Lieutenant Belinda Carroll, spoke to all in attendance. Carroll has been a member of the Needham Domestic Violence Action Committee for 18 years, and for 17 of those years, she has been co-chair of the committee. It is wonderful to see that law enforcement is committed to preventing domestic and sexual violence, an issue that is clearly quite prevalent in our world according to the statistics Carroll shared. The shocking data that 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 4 men will experience some form of physical violence from a significant other. That means that almost 30% of the world population will experience domestic or sexual assault. And when people are faced with these difficult situations, it can take them up to seven times to leave the relationship for good. Carroll’s statistics show that domestic violence is an important topic to be speaking up for, making the work that the TBTN club does to promote support and prevention all the more impressive and important.

While the audience at the event was still processing Carroll’s speech, they got to witness a performance from Needham High School’s audition only, all female, acapella group: The Treble Rebels. The group performed two pieces, the first being “Rise” by Katy Perry. The piece was arranged by Rebel leader and senior Zoe Hill, and sung by soloist Rachel Dasey. The song was full of sweet harmonies and powerful vocals, which made their second song a nice, angelic contrast to conclude their set. The group all joined together to perform “Rise Up” by R&B singer Andra Day. This song was arranged by another Dasey- Julia Dasey. The Rebel cover was a slower and more melodic version, favoring airy sounds for a large portion of the piece. They later increased the intensity of the song to impress the audience with their powerhouse voices.

After the wonderful acapella performance, the night took a more serious and heavy turn. TBTN was fortunate enough to have a representative from BARCC (Boston Area Rape Crisis Center) to come and speak at the event. The representative spoke to the resources that are available to any victims of domestic or sexual violence at the center. Along with the volunteer survivors she brought with her, she shows that recovery and healing is possible if you find support from a center like BARCC or from loved ones and other trusted members of your community. The most eye opening and hard to hear part of this segment was the personal stories from the survivors. For confidentiality reasons, they will not be shared again in this article, but it can be said that their stories are a testament to the hardships that face victims of sexual abuse, and how such issues can affect anyone. But the inspiring part is that these people are still here, with the courage to stand up and share their personal struggles with complete strangers. It shows how much someone can heal from this kind of pain, when they get the support that they need. They inspired all in the audience, and left them with themes and lessons that they will not soon forget.

On a slightly lighter note, the event featured a performance from a second acapella group, Fermata Nowhere. The all girls, no audition, group performed FLETCHER’s “I Believe You”, a power ballad about the Me Too Movement. Lily Oehlkers was the soloist for this song, and when asked about her feelings surrounding such a powerful song, she stated that “it meant a lot to me to be able to perform that piece, especially after hearing the stories from the survivors who came that night. Sexual harassment and violence is something that affects me personally, so I’m so glad I was able to perform this song with my fellow fermata members. They are a group that has been there with me through the highs and lows and nothing makes me happier than being able to call myself a part of them. I believe that fermata always performs at TBTN (we definitely have for the past two years that I have been in fermata) and it’s an incredibly important night so I’m really appreciative that we’re able to participate.”

TBTN provides a platform for students to use their voices for good. Highlighting Treble Rebels and Fermata Nowhere gave girl groups a chance to share their beliefs on the importance of sexual assault prevention. Since teenagers and young women are most often the ones who fall victim to domestic and sexual assaults, it is vitally important that they are given the chance to fight for the prevention of domestic and sexual assault. The fact that there is a TBTN club at Needham High School at all shows how the school and community is willing to support advocacy and stands with victims and survivors of violence. Coupled with the fact that TBTN is one of the most successful and popular clubs to be a member of, one sees that these issues are important to high school students. They are laying the foundation that this behavior will not be tolerated in the future, and paving the way for progress in the world.

If you are someone you know is seeking help, please consider contacting one of the following resources:

Any of the guidance counselors at Needham High School. The guidance office is located in the 400s, in the hallway directly off the main staircase.

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center- 800-841-8371

Take Back The Night Organization- (855) 598-4086