Linda A. Krutsinger 13

Carbondale Police Chief Don Strom challenged those present at the Take Back the Night rally Friday to continue the fight against domestic violence through educating youngsters and taking an active role in reporting abuse to authorities.

As a community, and as a society, we must address the serious violence we are subjected to on our streets, campuses, dorms and homes, Strom said. Our young people must be taught from birth by lesson and by example that violence is not an alternative.

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In a protest of violent crimes against women, about 150 participants marched down South Illinois Avenue Friday evening with candles, carrying signs stating Take Back the Night.

As the last scheduled event of Southern Illinois Women’s Safety Week, women marched hand-in-hand with men and children in a united front against domestic and sexual violence at the 14th annual Take Back the Night march and rally.

Participants carried candles and flashlights to symbolize light in the darkness, as they walked from the Interfaith Center, 913 S. Illinois Ave., to the Carbondale Community Pavilion. The marchers chanted Hey, hey, ho, ho; yes means yes and no means no and Women unite, take back the night.

The week is dedicated to events throughout the community to heighten the awareness of the citizens to the problem of domestic and sexual violence, Mary Kay Bachman, executive director of the Carbondale Women’s Center, said.

Bachman spoke to the crowd about the need to continue to fight the alarmingly high rate of violence against women in the community.

One out of four women will experience violence by a partner claiming to love them, Bachman said, by someone they know.

Doris, a 65-year-old grandmother from Carbondale, stood among the crowd reading the messages painted on the T-shirts that were strung around the pavilion.

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I kept thinking it would get better, Doris said. I just couldn’t believe it would get to that point.

For Doris, that point was defined by an incident three years ago when she was beaten so brutally by her husband that she spent 22 days in a coma. She awoke to the agony of a fractured cheekbone, no sight in her left eye and 40 stitches.

I’ve lost partial hearing in my right ear. I guess it’s a miracle I’m still alive, Doris said. I just get so tired of being afraid. I think that is why tonight is so important to me.

Doris watched her grandson playing flashlight tag with other children as she listened to musical tributes to the battle against violence.

It is really for him that I came, Doris said. He is the one who will break the abuse pattern in our family.