Women want a women-only event. Men are excluded from the rally and march because women want to know what it is like to do what men take for granted -- take a safe walk on a public street at night without a male protector. Instead, women make each other safe by getting together, refusing to be isolated, refusing to give up the right to travel our streets in safety and committing to helping each other in times of danger.

Women should not have to rely on men to protect us from other men -- we should simply have the freedom to walk about as we wish. Men will sometimes be annoyed or angry that they are excluded from this one night of protest. Take Back the Night points out that men enjoy an unearned level of freedom. It’s hard for men to acknowledge this because then they have to take some responsibility for the situation.

Men who want to demonstrate their support of women’s hopes and demands for safety can do many things. For starters, don’t insist on joining the rally and march for Take Back the Night. Instead, make it possible for a woman or a group of women in your life to participate without you.

Some other things men can do: stop using pornography, challenge your male friends when they tell sexist jokes or hit their wives/girlfriends, help them change their attitudes and behaviour about women, donate money to a progressive women’s group.