With faces masked by black bandanas, the students and supporters marched down Kirkwood Avenue chanting, “Whatever we wear and wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no.”
Students Against State Violence rallied Thursday night, beginning in Dunn Meadow, in the organization’s second Demonstration against Patriarchal Assault this school year.
“Fight the Patriarchy” was chalked on sidewalks, as organizers distributed black bandanas and chant cheat sheets reading, “ Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Sexist cops have got to go!”
Protesters took turns before the march sharing their personal experiences as victims of sexual assault.
Sophomore Leo Mohlke, a self-described pacifist, represented his own organization, Hoosiers Against Sexual Assault, at the rally. In stark contrast with most of the protesters present, Mohlke advocated for seeking better relationships with IU administration in tackling the issue of rape on campus.
“Sexual assault is a huge problem on campuses, particularly IU because it’s a huge party school,” Mohlke said.
By his own calculations, one in four women are victims of sexual assault on college campuses. That statistic is what drove Mohlke to seek change. He showed up to the Students Against State Violence demonstration to help spread his desire to work with administrators.
Speaking up first at the demonstration’s designated speak-out time, Mohlke called for increased lighting around campus and a discussion between students and the IU Police Department.
The latest Students Against State Violence demonstration came following two reported instances of rape — one in McNutt Quad and the other at an off-campus Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity recruitment event.
No arrests have been made in either case, and Students Against State Violence sees this as a “failure to bring about justice by IU and the Bloomington police, as well as the IUPD,” according to the organization’s Facebook page.
Despite the suspect’s having not been a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Students Against State Violence demanded fraternity members be held accountable for their actions.
In the organization’s first Demonstration Against Patriarchal Assault, demonstrators marched down Kirkwood Avenue, stopping traffic and throwing flares on the patio of the Upstairs Bar and the roof of Kilroys on Kirkwood.
Thursday’s march closely reflected that. Despite Mohlke’s pacifist caution at the beginning of the march, demonstrators carried mace and flares.
“Some of us just want to be angry,” protesters shouted in response to Mohlke’s calls for resolve.
Windy conditions prevented supporters from releasing the mace, but a flare was let loose just outside Kilroys on Kirkwood and also at the intersection of Sixth and Washington Streets.
The march, led with a poster reading “IU Doesn’t Care,” attracted attention and interaction from bystanders on the street.
Frustrated by the lack of results from prior protests, Gabriella Cleyre related the treatment of racial minorities to that of female victims of sexual assault.
“I wonder if people think about the ways that these issues aren’t separate or there’s not intersections between the ways that people are marginalized or have power taken away from them because of gender or have power taken away because of race,” Cleyre said. “It’s important to connect the anger that people feel about police for creating climate where stuff can just happen all the time.”
