This excellent editorial column was printed in the Missoulian on January 3, 2012. We wanted to share it with you via this website.

Combating rape also includes changing attitudes

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
- Elie Wiesel

In response to University of Montana President Royce Engstrom’s “message to students” in his guest column printed in the Missoulian on Dec. 23, the YWCA would like to send our own message – a message that does not suggest sexual assault is the fault of the victims’ overconsumption of alcohol (“If you drink, do so in moderation”); inattention to his or her surroundings (“Maintain control of what you ingest”); or immaturity (“Don’t be naïve”). Our message does not ask women and men to limit their behavior because of the existence of rape.
But we do ask students and the Missoula community to help combat sexual violence by avoiding:
• Using language that objectifies or degrades women.
• Blaming the victim (“She asked for it!”) or trivializing sexual assault (“Boys will be boys!”).
• Objectifying one another’s bodies.
• Glamorizing sexual violence.
• Telling sexually explicit jokes at the expense of women.
• Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives and history.
• Defining “manhood” as dominant and sexually aggressive.
• Defining “womanhood” as submissive and sexually passive.
• Putting pressure on men to “score.”
• Putting pressure on women to not appear “cold.”.
• Assuming only promiscuous or naïve women get raped.
• Assuming that men don’t get raped or that only “weak” men get raped.
• Refusing to take rape accusations seriously.
• Teaching women to avoid getting raped instead of teaching men not to rape.
And by:
• Speaking out when you hear others telling sexually explicit jokes.
• Thinking critically about the media’s messages about women, men, relationships and violence.
• Being respectful of others’ physical space even in casual situations.
• Always communicating with sexual partners and not assuming consent.
• Defining your own manhood or womanhood and not letting stereotypes shape your actions.
• Holding perpetrators accountable for sexual assault rather than asking victims to prove they were not assaulted.
• Getting involved! Join a student or community group working to end violence against women.
Rape is everyone’s problem. It affects everyone in our society, not only the individuals who are victimized. Together, we have the power to create a culture where women, men and youth are equally valued and sexual assault is no longer the norm.
Elizabeth Harrison is communications and development associate for YWCA Missoula.

See original article on Missoulian:http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/columnists/combating-rape-also-includes-changing-attitudes/article_07d2ab6e-3620-11e1-8579-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1kVkrktQL