Men’s programming chooses new angle for rape prevention
by AnnaWeb Correspondent
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund
Year after year, educators try to impress upon young women ways to protect themselves from sexual assault: Take self defense classes. Avoid walking alone at night. At a party, never accept drinks you didn’t mix yourself. But year after year, the rape statistics are frightening: 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be victims of sexual assault during their lifetime. 1 in 4 college women have experienced rape or attempted rape. 60 percent of sexual assaults go unreported.
A glance at these stats reveals that something more needs to be done, and some educators are taking the initiative by incorporating a fresh outlook into their programming. The new concept? Focus on men.
This approach is all about addressing the cultural problems and perceptions that make rape such a widespread travesty. Rape myths—misconceptions about what is and is not rape, misconceptions about women’s willingness to participate in sex in any situation, and misconceptions about what women are “asking for” when they dress provocatively, to name a few—are at the heart of this problem. New programming focuses on dispelling these myths and angles its plea in a new direction by making men potential allies, not potential criminals.
An early November article in the Star Tribune, discussing how Minnesota campuses are implementing male-oriented programming, really hit home for me. The article reported that one in five female college students at 14 Minnesota colleges and universities reported experiencing an actual or attempted sexual assault in 2007. Recognizing this as a problem that won’t go away without major intervention, “schools including the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Cloud State University, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Carleton College are starting men's groups or have them in place.”
Men in these programs get together in peer groups, usually with peer educators (students tend to respect other students), to think and talk about all the things that go hand-in-hand with rape. The myths, the objectification, the pop culture and song lyrics that prove pretty derogatory when you stop to think about them-- all of this feeds into a conversation about how women are sexualized in our culture, and how simple actions and attitude changes can help. Just calling their guy friends out on derogatory language or disrespectful treatment, for example, is one way that these college men, and men in general, can work to make sexual assault as socially unacceptable as it ought to be.
Organizations are cropping up all over the country that share similar values and try to impart similar knowledge. One in Four and Men Can Stop Rape are just two of the many I came across that are implementing men’s programs to facilitate rape prevention. Focusing on peer education and victim empathy, these programs highlight how men can help rather than highlighting their status as potential rapists. How to support female friends who are recouping after a sexual assault experience is one crucial educational element. According to One in Four, 75 percent of “high risk” men who go through the organization’s programming report that they are less likely to commit sexual assault.
All of this, of course, comes back to something that isn’t just about formal education. It’s about the things we learn from everyone and everything around us—our parents, our friends, the media, our culture. The ultimate goal of these programs, and the ultimate goal of anyone who is concerned about sexual assaults, is to change cultural beliefs about sexuality so that women can enjoy complete respect and safety. Certainly not an overnight process, but programs like these indicate to me that we are on the right track.
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