More than women are needed to spread sexual assault awareness.

In part of celebrating Sexual Assault Awareness Month, on Tuesday the daylong ceremony Take Back the Night was held. Sexual assault victims and members of the community gathered at the field near Beaumont Tower and the Union for a variety of events aimed at raising awareness about sexual violence.

Take Back the Night gathers survivors of sexual assault and supportive members of the community with the hopes of putting an end to sexual violence.

This year, men were permitted to join the march for the first time. And a men's forum was held before the march to create a round-table, open discussion for men to talk about their feelings and views on sexual assault in a comfortable environment.

This is opening Take Back the Night's cause to a larger network of support.

In prior years, men were not allowed to participate in the march in order to create an environment where women felt safe.

Although understandable, the reasoning falls short in several ways.

Men also can be victims of sexual assault and should have the right to participate in a march against it. And it doesn't take a certain gender to rally against something as horrible as rape.

Power is in numbers.

Allowing men to participate is helping to raise awareness and adds a whole new dimension to the fight against sexual assault.

Men are often labeled as the perpetrator or apathetic about rape. Considering men's feelings and their ability to make a statement about why sexual assault is wrong is essential to ending sexual violence.

The people who are really in question here are not all men, but people who condone or participate in sexual assault. And having as many people as possible rally against it, men included, can only benefit and raise more awareness of the cause.

Also, including men in the march could be a stepping stone in allowing women who are victims of sexual violence to know not all men are dangerous.

It's important to remember that sexual assault doesn't affect just one gender, it affects us all.