Rallying against violence

PROVO — A rally and march on Brigham Young University campus Thursday to bring about awareness and understanding of domestic violence and sexual assault was met with myriad responses from onlookers.

Many students stopped and gazed curiously at the group of about 40 students who marched across campus, some wearing all white or sporting white ribbons. The marchers silently distributed fliers and displayed signs with statistics or facts, such as "One in eight women in Utah is a victim of rape."

One male student hollered anti-women statements at the marchers as they walked by. When interviewed, the student, who refused to give his name, said he was just joking. He later apologized.

Other students expressed shock at the data displayed on posters during the rally in the quad in front of the Joseph F. Smith Building before the march. One poster read: "Rape is the only violent crime in which Utah has a higher rate than the national average."

"I would have never guessed that," said Holly Kovach, 21, of Fort Collins, Colo., a junior majoring in English.

"I didn't know a lot of this stuff. I've never been exposed to anything like that," said Aric Farnsworth, 22, of Boulder, Colo., a junior majoring in civil engineering.

Thursday's event was sponsored by Parity, a BYU gender equity club, and was held in conjunction with International Women's Day.

At the rally, many students signed a petition seeking to end violence against women worldwide. The United Nations Foundation has pledged to donate $1 for each signature to the U.N. Development Fund for Women, which will use the funds to run an international campaign combating such violence.

Parity leaders said they have gathered approximately 1,300 signatures at the university. People can sign the international petition at saynotoviolence.org.

Michael Pierson, 23, of Portland, Ore., a senior majoring in finance who signed the petition, said he feels strongly about helping empower women.

"My wife and I walk hand-in-hand. I'm not better than she is. She's not better than I am," he said. "Everyone is equal. We have unique traits."

The goal of the rally was twofold: to bring about awareness of physical and sexual abuse of women and to work together to find ways to reduce these problems, said Parity president Carl Brinton, 23, of New York City, a junior majoring in Asian studies.

One thing club members are working toward is getting state funding to aid victims of rape or domestic violence in Utah. Currently these programs are funded with federal dollars, said Caitlin Carroll, 21, of Columbia, S.C., a junior majoring in political science. She is vice president of Parity.