LETTER: Sexual assault fliers offensive, single out males as perpetrators

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by Jason Ciarochi and Michael Gomez

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To the editor:

For anyone who is not active on campus, this week is Sexual Assault Awareness Week.

This is a serious week when students are informed of the harsh realities and dangers of rape on campus -- in our belief, an act that should be punished severely.

We have had several friends who have been victims of rape and are deeply aware of the personal and physical devastation that it wreaks on a person.

However, the reason we are writing this letter is not to discuss rape, but rather, to express our feelings of insult in regard to fliers that allegedly try to prevent sexual assault.

To their credit, the fliers are informative to those who are completely ignorant of the crime.

Yet, we find the overtones of the fliers to be extremely offensive.

The problem with the fliers is that they paint a picture where women are the only potential victims of rape and men the only potential perpetrators.

One clear example of this is the flier's differing advice to men and women.

For women, the flier states, "Drugs and alcohol may cloud your judgment and make it harder for you to get out of an unsafe situation."

The obvious implication here is that a male will put the woman in such a situation.

In the advice for men, the flier suggests that "drugs and alcohol may cloud your judgment and make it harder for you to recognize what others are trying to communicate to you."

Here, there is no suggestion that a man would ever be a victim of sexual assault, but instead that men are careless and will easily misinterpret cues that women are sending.

This victim/perpetrator tone is evident throughout the flier.

Although women need to be cautious of their surroundings, men are not de facto sexual perpetrators simply because of their gender.

We'd like to emphasize that rape is a serious offense and students should be aware of its dangers.

We applaud SOAR and other organizations in their efforts to prevent rape, inform students and console victims.

But we feel that it is necessary that we recognize that men can be victims of rape as well and that not all men are potential rapists.

If the goal of Sexual Assault Awareness Week is to inform men and women about the dangers of rape, we feel that the most effective means would be a dialogue that incorporates neutral discussions between men and women rather than lecture men -- the majority of whom are sensitive to these issues -- as potential perpetrators.

Jason Ciarochi

SRC '96

Michael Gomez

SRC '97

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the March 22, 1996 issue.

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