Rape In Public Education

In our day and age rape is still seen as a taboo subject and is rarely openly discussed. Avoiding a problem has never solved it and this is an issue that has lingered with humanity across time. Yes, it is illegal, recognized as a horrible act and activists are starting to spring up here and there, but that isn't enough. People don't give rape a second thought and go through life thinking "That won't happen to me," or looking down on victims. When it is a very real possibility they could become a victim themselves. When the topic of sex education or anything similar is brought up it is seen as embarrassing and people don't actively seek education on such things until others near them have an incident and even then some don't. Rape is …show more content…
Educating the public on rape is a big step in the right direction. Public education gives community members more awareness of issues relating to sexual violence. Information in workshops may include: Sexual assault statistics, Legal right of victims, resources for victims, and tools and techniques for supporting a victim. At Yale a group of freshman met up and acted out different scenes or scenarios. The intended lesson of this workshop was to demonstrate the line between a request and a demand is fairly obvious (Bazelon1). Some male students that attended these workshops expressed nervousness about accidentally breaking consent rules, especially because drinking at parties can lead to one night stands. The men were more at ease with "bystander intervention." Where student are trained to watch for warning signs that someone might be at risk. The students are encouraged to be alert to indications the someone is pressuring or feeling pressured sexually and to step in and help. Activism has started working at some schools in recent years too. Fraternities are holding training sessions about preventing sexual assault and at Yale student are required to participate in multiple workshops on sexual misconduct. "Activism has forced not just administrators, faculty members and politicians to reckon with what goes on when students have sex, but also young men on campus" (Bazelon2). New policies were created as well to help clarify internal university investigations on sexual assault accusations. Previously, the main question in investigations was whether the victim had made it clear she said no(No means no). Now the new question is whether the student accused of assault had received consent(Yes mean yes). In California the governor Jerry Brown signed an affirmative-consent bill, making "Yes means yes" the standard for state colleges and