Students 'Unsilence the Violence'

Everyone knows a rapist, and everyone knows someone who has been raped, Kiara Alvarez '01 said in her provocative introduction to a day of events about sexual abuse and violence.

Alvarez and members of her sorority, the Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad/Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, planned the day of discussion and performance--called "Unsilence the Violence"--to "bring together more of a cross section" of individuals, especially minority students, to discuss sexual violence. Spoken Word Society and other concerned students also helped organize the event.

About 20 students attended the first event of the day, a discussion entitled "Abuse in Relationships: How Does This Relate to Me?" The discussion, led by Alvarez's mother, Dr. Ana Maria Ferrer of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, focused on identifying, addressing and preventing abuse in relationships.

Ferrer shared her own experiences as a victim of domestic abuse in her first marriage and stressed the importance of being aware of signs of abuse in a relationship.

"The pattern is always the same," she said. "It's not about anger; it's about power and control."

In response to student comments, Ferrer emphasized the crucial role of education in preventing sexual violence.

This message of empowerment carried through into the second component of "Unsilence the Violence"--a two-hour performance of poetry and art, featuring members of Harvard's Spoken Word Society and the BlackOut Boston Collective, a Boston performance group.

Standing beside a flower-covered altar in honor of survivors of abuse and sexual violence, performers encouraged the audience of approximately 40 students to join them in singing, "Silence no more. I was born to roar."

Andrea Rosario, a Wesleyan graduate who teaches in the Boston area, urged women to "cover lightning beams with fists and look for tomorrow" in her poem of female unity.

The day's events continued after the performance as a procession of about 20 students went on a solemn candlelight walk through Harvard Square, stopping only to explain the symbolism of the walk and to re-light flames extinguished by the occasional gust of wind.

The walk concluded just outside Winthrop House, where the events of the day took place. Participants gathered in a circle to offer prayers for survivors and to share their thoughts.

"It is always possible to find peace and to offer peace to another person," Alvarez said as she asked participants to blow out their candles at the conclusion of the evening.

Fellow "Unsilence the Violence" planner Priscilla S. Aquino '01 stressed the importance of an event that allowed people to come together and talk about abuse and sexual violence.

"It can't be something that goes unspoken," Aquino said.