College Posts Sex-Assault Ads In Urinals

[matcom]

<snip>

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --Indiana University is taking a message to prevent sexual assault to an unusual place -- men's restrooms.

Members of Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters, or RAISE, have placed 600 red drain guards in urinals in Indiana dorm rooms with a message urging students to stop sexual assault.

"We're reaching people we wouldn't reach otherwise," said member Cara Berg, a junior.

For years, colleges have tried to prevent sexual assault by focusing on women's behavior. Female students are told to stay with friends when they go to parties, avoid excessive drinking and to speak clearly and firmly when they do not want to have sex.

That approach may reduce their risk, but it doesn't get at the root of the problem, said Carol McCord, assistant dean of women's affairs.

"It's far more effective for men to say to other men, 'I don't accept this as a way to deal with women,'" she said.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/08/31/college_posts_sex_assault_ads_in_urinals?mode=PF

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Good idea!

Might as well go to the real source of the problem - the asshole men who feel they need to assault women in order to feel good about themselves, or because they think it's "fun" or "appropriate".

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Though it would be nice to start earlier,

and put these urinal things in the homes of the kids who will eventually go to IU, so that their misogynist racist dad's can get the message, and maybe not raise their sons with bullshit KKK- and fundy-Christian-inspired machismo.

[matcom]

3. WOW!

did YOU wake up on the wrong side today :D

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. No, I'm actually in a really good mood!

After almost two weeks of having a (*#@^&% cold, I actually woke up this morning without coughing and crap.

:-)

[WildClarySage]

5. The real problem is that focusing on women's behavior does nothing

to stop sexual assault. Women who place themselves in a vulnerable position are NOT responsible for someone else's taking that step over the line to assault them. Women who are not in vulnerable positions are assaulted too, but because people want so desperately to believe that it can't happen to them, or that it won't happen again if they are supervigilant and stay 'invulnerable' (whatever that means), we blame the victim.

Sexual assault never happens because someone wore a short skirt, or went walking at night alone, or because they got drunk, or high, or didn't say 'no' clearly enough. Sexual assault happens because someone chose a couse of action against a victim. And unless you address that aspect of behavior, nothing will change.

[MountainLaurel]

6. Absolutely

I've always wondered why rape prevention activities RARELY deal with the potential perpetrators. Same for DV ads: They tell a woman to get out and the signs to watch out for, but the one ad campaign aimed at perpetrators never ran on television because the commercials were considered "too graphic."

[Arkana]

7. "Speak clearly and firmly?"

So what does that mean? That if a woman slurs her speech a bit or talks too low that a rape is her fault?