The annual Take Back the Night rally and march is returning to the Iowa State campus for the 10th year in a row.

“Women have a right to be safe,” said Julie Wooden, chairwoman of the event. “Women should feel safe from any sort of violence, particularly sexual assault.”

On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., women and men will gather south of the Campanile to hear speakers and poetry readings for a rally against violence, Wooden said. The evening will culminate in a candlelight march through campus and Campustown.

Participants will march down the steps around the Memorial Union Parking Ramp, proceed down Ash Avenue, turn west on Knapp Street and north on Welch Avenue. The march will conclude at the Union.

Take Back the Night originated in London in the 1970s as a way to educate people and decrease violence. It developed in San Francisco in 1978 and is now an international event.

Take Back the Night is prominent on campuses nationwide because of high-profile sexual assaults on many college campuses. The annual event first hit campus 10 years ago, promoted by the National Organization for Women. It is now sponsored by the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center and the YWCA.

The evening provides an important opportunity to show support for women who have been the victim of violence, Wooden said.

“There’s such a stigma in our society about rape,” she said. “People turn around and say, ‘What did you do?’ to the victim and won’t place 100 percent of the blame on the person who committed the crime.”

Counselors from ISU Student Counseling Center, the Richmond Center, ACCESS and the Department of Public Safety will be available to talk with students who need help. The counselors will be wearing large burgundy ribbons to set them apart from the crowd. Whistles donated by Younkers will also be passed out to participants.

“Even though the majority of rapes are acquaintance rapes, not stranger rapes, so many things can happen to a person late at night,” Wooden said. “Our society has gotten to the point where women can’t feel safe.”

Take Back the Night is an attempt to reverse this situation, she said.

Jacquelyn Litt, keynote speaker for the rally, will talk about steps communities can take to curb violence against women. She will also touch on the “culture” of violence that women are exposed to in college, Wooden said.

The rally is being held as a pre-Veishea event specifically because Veishea is known as such a party weekend, Wooden said. “A lot of rapes involve alcohol, so we want women to be aware.”

Take Back the Night is primarily a means of public education, officials said. Its goals are to raise awareness about the prevalence of violence against women and to empower women to take a stand against violence and to refuse to be victimized, according to its mission statement.

Last year’s rally and march attracted 200 people. Organizers are hoping for more.

“This is a night where we don’t live in fear. We can walk and reclaim our territory,” Litt said. “We are all in this together.”