TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama Women’s Resource Center will sponsor the annual Take Back the Night march on Wednesday, April 30, at 7 p.m. to support the end of violence against women.

The rally will begin at the Ferguson Center Plaza, and then participants will march around the Quad, followed by a survivor “speak-out.” The event will conclude with a candlelight service and moment of silence back at the Ferguson Plaza.

Take Back the Night is an international rally and march that is organized in local communities with the purpose of unifying communities to take a stand opposing violence against women. In 1976, the Take Back the Night rally began in Europe when women attending the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women marched together in solidarity, lighting candles to protest the ways in which violence affected women.

The University has participated in this event since 1986 with the rally initially sponsored by the UA department of women’s studies. For the past three years, the rally has been organized by UA’s Women’s Resource Center.

Along with the rally, the UA Women’s Resource Center will be passing out teal ribbons in recognition of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The public event is open to the community and is also supported by UA Students for Gender Justice.

Call the Women’s Resource Center at 205/348-5040 for more information.