Getting Involved
"I will not be silent when I feel that I am intimidated, threatened, or harassed because I want to be an example of a woman who will not be brought down to the ground" (Ines Hernandez-Avila)
"Imagine a candidate declaring on national television 'As president, I will commit the resources of my administration to making the United States a rape-free zone.' Sounds utterly farfetched, but why ?" (John Stoltenberg)
Sexual violence is an umbrella term that describes many forms of violence against women and includes sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, stalking, and the myriad other ways that misogyny is manifested in society. At the root of sexual violence in all its forms is inequality and oppression. In order for sexual violence to end, the larger social structures that maintain and perpetuate inequality and oppression of any group of people must be dismantled.
In 1983, in St. Paul, Andrea Dworkin once remarked, "It is astonishing to think that in all our worlds of feminism and antisexism we never talk seriously about ending rape. Ending it. Stopping it. No more. No more rape… I want a twenty-four hour truce during which there is no rape. And then, instead of rape we will for the first time in our lives—both men and women—begin to experience freedom."
It is striking realize that more than thirty years later, Dworkin's wish has yet to be achieved; indeed, according to an FBI study, 96,360 women in the United States are raped each year—that's 11 women every hour. (In fact, since rape is notoriously underreported, the actual numbers may be much higher.) Knowing such statistics about rape is overwhelming. It can feel like there is nothing that anyone can do to stop rape. It is true that rape is inextricably linked to some socially-conditioned norms and gender roles, but this does not mean that rape is inevitable. For these reasons, it is important for concerned individuals to work toward an end of sexual violence. This means ending sexual violence and social tolerance for sexual violence, and also supporting survivors and ending victim-blaming attitudes.
There are a number of ways you can help stop sexual violence. You can train to be a survivor's advocate or work a rape crisis hotline. You can be a peer educator and give presentations about preventing sexual assault on campus. You can work for a University of Chicago sexual assault policy and for improved campus resources. You can evaluate your attitudes and those of your friends and work to change those that seem to promote a rape culture. All of these are important things to do, and these resources always need more help and volunteers.
