This two-letter word keeps creeping up lately…. And rightly so.
While matters of sexual assault are not exactly front and center, they are receiving some timely attention through the “No More” campaign, which has been airing since September, and articles like this, which revisit ‘no means no’ and more:
Two thoughts occur to me:
1). The staggering numbers when it comes to male involvement. Only three percent are responsible for most assaults, leaving 97 percent to simply stop being bystanders.
2). I’ve got to stop using the word ‘simply’ when talking about this. Nothing is simple. I recall the difficulty I had writing about this topic in my book. I was drawn to the fatherly (male?) tack of telling young women to be careful, protect themselves, and take preventative measures (like monitoring alcohol intake). But a former student suggested I was venturing into ‘blame the victim’ territory, and I had to rethink it all.
In the end (which isn’t really the end in this ongoing effort), one must not fall in the middle, riding the fence, when faced with an issue like this. So, I subscribe to a ‘both-and’ stance, where I advise would-be victims (females and males alike) to take precautions and preventative measures, and I encourage males to get educated about how to become part of the solution. In the book, I felt inadequate on both counts, so I continue to defer to those who are off and running with some really good ideas. The above article and the ‘No More’ campaign do a pretty good job of framing the issue and calling young men (and campus administrators) to action.
Here are a few articles I’ve read along the way that tried to tackle this troubling topic. At the time I wrote my book, there was a thought-provoking piece by Kate Taylor in which the author explored campus sexual relationships through in-depth interviews at Penn University. It’s called “Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game, Too.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/fashion/sex-on-campus-she-can-play-that-game-too.html
The response to her article was quick and loud, as well…
And the conversation continues with “Love in the Time of Hookups” here:
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/love-in-the-time-of-hookups/?src=recg
The sexual assault conversations were just as active….
As we continue to look for solutions, the most immediate action would be to keep this issue front and center with an ongoing dialogue. Hope this contributes.