Protest march to mark Subic rape anniversary

Women's groups will mark the first anniversary of the Subic rape case Wednesday with a "Take Back the Night" protest march and candle-lighting ceremony in Olongapo City. The Nicole Information Bureau, a blog site set up by supporters of the 23-year-old complainant in the case, said the march is patterned after the "Take Back the Night" rallies in the 1970s. "'Take Back the Night' rallies began in Europe as a protest against the dangers women faced while walking the streets at night. The first of such rallies in the United States was held 1978," it said in a statement dated October 30, but was posted Tuesday morning on the site (subicrapecase.wordpress.com). Expected to join the "Take Back the Night" activities are women's groups led by Pagkakaisa ng Kababaihan (Kaisa-Ka), People's Task Force for Bases Clean-Up, and Yakap-Subic. Organizers said the march aims to raise people's awareness on violence against women, noting that the alleged rape occurred on the night of November 1 last year. It was in Subic where the then-22-year-old complainant and her siblings were on vacation, at the invitation of a visiting US Marine. The complainant claimed that when she had too much drink at the Neptune Club, four US Marines dragged her to a van and one of them allegedly raped her, while the others reportedly cheering on. But the accused Marines claimed the sex was consensual, and that the complainant had wanted it. A Makati trial court handling the case is due to hand down its decision on the case November 27. "To condemn the alleged crime, the said groups will lead Nicole's other supporters at the main gate of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, and will then march to the Ulo ng Apo. Candles will be lighted," the organizers said. The "Take Back the Night" rallies began in Belgium in 1976 as a protest against the dangers women faced while walking the streets at night. Participants of that march were mostly women attending the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women. Similar marches were subsequently held in Rome, West Germany and England. In the United States, the first of such rallies was held in San Francisco in 1978. An article on "Take Back the Night" rallies at the Wikipedia site (wikipedia.org) indicates events typically consist of a rally, followed by a march, and often completed with a speak-out or candlelight vigil on violence against women. "Marches are often deliberately women-only, to symbolize women's individual walk through darkness, and to demonstrate that women united can resist fear and violence," it said. - GMANews.TV