What is the Women’s Center?

The Women’s Center is a place where women can participate in their community and find support, information and resources in a non-threatening environment. The center strives to help women empower themselves and each other and encourages personal, social and intellectual growth. By providing comprehensive programs and services, such as V-Day and the Vagina Monologues, Breast Cancer Awareness, The Safety Walk, and Love Your Body Day, the center increases awareness and understanding of gender equality issues. The center works with other student organizations on campus to provide peer support, educational programs and role models. The center also provides a place for women to seek assistance with personal crises, including sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault or relationship issues. Take Back the Night is just one of the programs the Women’s Center is involved with. As a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Take Back the Night is an international march and rally in protest of rape and other forms of violence against women. The program focuses on men and women working together to make the night safe for everyone. Take Back the Night originated from a 1977 memorial read at an anti-violence rally in Pittsburgh by Anne Pride. The first “Reclaim the Night” march was held in Belgium in 1976. In the following year, the first march in the United States occurred in the red-light district of San Francisco in 1977, by Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media. V-Day is another program the Women’s Center promotes each year. It is a global movement founded by feminist writer and author of The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler, to stop violence against women and girls. In 2006 over 2700 V-Day benefit events took place around the world. As a part of V-Day, The Vagina Monologues is performed annually by Western students to raise and prevent violence awareness. For more information, or to find out how to become involved with the Women’s Center, visit the website at: http://www.wcu.edu/womenscenter/.