As the University of Minnesota -and beyond- continues to grapple with the implications of rape culture, it’s worth taking a moment to re-center the people most impacted by sexual assault: victim-survivors. While the media may fixate on high-profile sports teams, and the conversation on social media may zoom in on the back-and-forth of the micro-level legal particulars of a given case, victim-survivors are meanwhile left reliving their trauma.
It is up to us, as a community, to support victim-survivors, in terms of the personal relationships we have in our own lives, and in the broader culture of which we are all a part. “Being a good person” is a start, but it is not enough. To really disrupt and dismantle rape culture, we must put our values …show more content…
This process may be difficult, since myths about sexual assault are so deeply ingrained in U.S. culture.
We must question those first impulses to ask questions like “but was she drinking?” or “what was she wearing?” that, intentionally or not, blame the victim. We must change those questions and ask “how did the accused clearly ask for consent and know that consent was given?”
We must disrupt the myth that sexual assault is “the stranger lurking in the bushes,” when it is in fact much more likely to be a friend, partner, someone the victim knows, or someone who has commuity power or respect.
We must stop saying things like “boys will be boys” or other statements that frame men’s behavior or “mistakes” as inevitable, and forgivable, because of their gender. When we buy into these myths, we’re granting more leniency for male behavior and sustaining a system of double standards that plays out as blaming girls and women. These statements, and the beliefs behind them, normalize, or even trivialize, rape.
We must think critically about why so many victim/survivors choose not to report their …show more content…
Check out multiple resources via the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, from in-person presentations, to recommended reading, and beyond.
Understand why schools handle sexual assault reports, and what Title IX has to do with this. Via Know Your IX:
Title IX requires schools to combat sex discrimination in education. One of the most common objections we hear to campus adjudication is “but isn’t rape a crime?” It absolutely is, and students who report to their schools can also report to the police. However, rape and other forms of gender-based violence manifest and perpetuate inequality, and federal antidiscrimination law recognizes that. To make sure that all students, regardless of their gender identity and expression, have equal access to education, schools are required to prevent and respond to reports of sexual violence. This isn’t a replacement for reporting to the police; it’s a parallel option for survivors based in civil rights – rather than criminal – law [emphasis
It is up to us, as a community, to support victim-survivors, in terms of the personal relationships we have in our own lives, and in the broader culture of which we are all a part. “Being a good person” is a start, but it is not enough. To really disrupt and dismantle rape culture, we must put our values …show more content…
This process may be difficult, since myths about sexual assault are so deeply ingrained in U.S. culture.
We must question those first impulses to ask questions like “but was she drinking?” or “what was she wearing?” that, intentionally or not, blame the victim. We must change those questions and ask “how did the accused clearly ask for consent and know that consent was given?”
We must disrupt the myth that sexual assault is “the stranger lurking in the bushes,” when it is in fact much more likely to be a friend, partner, someone the victim knows, or someone who has commuity power or respect.
We must stop saying things like “boys will be boys” or other statements that frame men’s behavior or “mistakes” as inevitable, and forgivable, because of their gender. When we buy into these myths, we’re granting more leniency for male behavior and sustaining a system of double standards that plays out as blaming girls and women. These statements, and the beliefs behind them, normalize, or even trivialize, rape.
We must think critically about why so many victim/survivors choose not to report their …show more content…
Check out multiple resources via the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, from in-person presentations, to recommended reading, and beyond.
Understand why schools handle sexual assault reports, and what Title IX has to do with this. Via Know Your IX:
Title IX requires schools to combat sex discrimination in education. One of the most common objections we hear to campus adjudication is “but isn’t rape a crime?” It absolutely is, and students who report to their schools can also report to the police. However, rape and other forms of gender-based violence manifest and perpetuate inequality, and federal antidiscrimination law recognizes that. To make sure that all students, regardless of their gender identity and expression, have equal access to education, schools are required to prevent and respond to reports of sexual violence. This isn’t a replacement for reporting to the police; it’s a parallel option for survivors based in civil rights – rather than criminal – law [emphasis