Men and women can both contribute to ending sexual assault and rape.
Men: We need you. We need your help in combating sexual violence, assaults and rape on campus.
According to National Public Radio, 6 to 10 percent of men on campuses have raped or attempted to rape someone. The majority of these rapists are also serial rapists with an average of six victims. However, these rapists typically don’t see themselves as such. Society seems to view rapists as men who hide behind bushes with weapons and jump out to attack. While this does sometimes happen, the National Institution of Justice found that in college rape cases, 80 to 90 percent of survivors know his or her rapist.
Psychologist David Lisak conducted a study surveying men who had raped and were willing to talk about their attacks. Most of them would specifically invite a woman they wanted to assault to a party, telling some freshmen women it was an invite-only party. They would purposefully get the women drunk and some admitted to using physical force to have sex with the women.
NPR reported that one rapist in the study said: “We always had some kind of punch, you know, like our own home brew. We’d make it with a real sweet juice, and just pour in all kinds of alcohol. It was really powerful stuff. The girls wouldn’t know what hit them.”
The 180 rapists in Lisak’s study had attacked 439 people. None of the victims reported it to the authorities. About 20 to 25 percent of all female college students in America will graduate having been raped, or having survived an attempted rape according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
One of the reasons these serial rapists continue attacking people is because of the culture that surrounds them. When they talk about their sexual conquests, degrade women publicly or attempt to get someone drunk in order to have sex with them, their friends encourage them to comply by staying silent. Men are encouraged to have many sexual conquests, so I understand it can be hard to speak up when surrounded by your male friends. You don’t want your masculinity to be questioned or judged for taking away someone’s ability to “score.” But taking a stand is worth it.
Men: Speak up, because it seems that most of the time when someone does, a potential assault can be prevented. If you see a guy at a party trying to take home a drunk woman, let him know that it wouldn’t be consensual sex. Step in and help someone if they seem to be cornered by a guy or seem annoyed with his advances and can’t seem to shake him off. Even a simple, “Are you OK?” can make a difference.
While women can rape as well, according to a study from RAINN, 99 percent of all rapes are perpetrated by men. Rapists seem to be under the impression that having sex by any means necessary is socially acceptable. With the first weekend upon us, I’m addressing this to the roughly 90 percent of men who are good people: let your friends and acquaintances know that consensual sex is the only acceptable form of sex.
Jessica Ensley is a senior studying journalism. How else can women and men stay safe on campus? Email her at je726810@ohio.edu.
