Rape Awareness Starts at Home

I had a friend post this article on his Facebook wall a little while ago; it's titled 5 Ways We Can Teach Men Not to Rape and is written from a rape survivor. While I think the title is a bit over-the-top, the article itself is really good. I had never thought of rape from this perspective before, and it I like it much better. In today's world, I don't think we'll be able to completely and 100% prevent rape (although I really wish we could!), but there are things we can do to protect both our young women, and our young men. As the article states, rape prevention is definitely more geared toward women, which makes sense, yes. However, the effects of this approach is where this article changed my perspective. Since rape is most often done by men, the blame should fall with them, right? Well, what tends to happen too often, is when a woman falls victim to this awful, awful crime, she ends up with most of the blame. "Why were you running alone?," "You shouldn't have gone to that particular area," "I told you not to trust that guy!," "Why'd you wear your hair in a ponytail when you knew you'd be walking that way?," and so forth, are the common responses. While we as women do need to be conscious of those types of things, no one plans on getting raped, and most of the circumstances are out of our control. So why has our society and media put these female victims at fault, when the actual rape was done by the male? I don't know...but I don't think it's right. The sexualization, dehumanization, and belittlement of women all throughout the media lead many men to believe that rape is ok. Just so everyone knows...IT'S NOT OK! I appreciate this article, in that it gives (you guessed it...) 5 ways we can educate and encourage men from an early age to know that rape is unacceptable, and they should do all they can to prevent it as well as the women. It starts at home! The difference between right and wrong in our world is becoming quite skewed, and the majority of our society doesn't really care. Make an effort to help those you care about know the difference. Yes, women be smart, but men, buck up and do something as well please! Don't let your female friends walk home alone. Don't allow sexual humor in any form into your life. Encourage your male friends to do the same. I know there are many men out there who do these things, but maybe we could make a difference if more made a contribution. We could always use more people for any good cause. Rape is disgusting, selfish, and wrong. Don't let yourself (men and women) develop the attitude that it's something that "only happens to people on the news." Those people on the news are real people, just like you. If you or someone you know and love fell victim to this heinous act, and you could possibly have done something to help prevent it, how would you feel? Let's not let this happen, 'm k?

Remember, it's the little things in life!

Lindsey