Chris Anderson wonders, “Is a man or a transgender person who is raped just as worthy of support as the women who are victimized?”
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“What will it take to make women safe at college?” is the question TIME asks in promoting their issue on Rape on College Campuses. Here’s a suggestion – how about not alienating millions of victims of sexual violence for starters?
The cover article, and virtually every piece of content related to this story in the issue, fails to mention even once that women are only some of those who are victims of sexual violence. The editors at TIME, and all the contributors to this week’s coverage in the magazine have chosen deny and/or ignore the very existence of male sexual assault victims (to say nothing of the many victims who choose to identify as transgender).
There is no indication from the White House, Vice President Biden, or Senators Gillibrand and McCaskill that male victims warrant any attention at all in the effort to eradicate campus sexual violence.
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Further, by framing sexual violence on campus purely as a women’s issue, and failing to include the narrative of even one non-female victim in the cover article, TIME calcifies campus sexual violence as an issue that has one, and only one narrative: Women get raped, predominantly by men. This narrative is wrong. It is dismissive of the pain of tens of millions of survivors. And it is profoundly counterproductive because it creates a division among sexual violence advocates where none should exist.
According to research from the CDC over 25 million males in the US will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes. Research soon to be published by from UCLA Law School professor Lara Stemple shows that between 2010 and 2012 “federal surveys detect a high prevalence of sexual victimization among men—in many circumstances similar to the prevalence found among women.” And a recent survey (that won scornful derision from male rape promoter, Bill Maher) shows that in a group of high school and college age males, 43% reported being coerced into engaging in sexual activity they did not want to engage in.
Perhaps even more shocking, 95% of the perpetrators were identified by respondents as female. Clearly the tide is finally beginning to turn and we are beginning to understand that both men and women are raped in shockingly high numbers. So why is the discussion of sexual violence on college campuses happening within a paradigm that actually makes it far more likely that millions of people will have their sexual victimization ignored?
Is a man or a transgender person who is raped just as worthy of support as the women who are victimized? Should we fight just as hard to ensure that all students on college campuses are protected from sexual violence? And should the parents of young men not right to wonder if their sons are going to be safe from sexual violence on campus? All the data, common sense, and decency itself, emphatically demand we answer yes to all these questions.
And yet, for the time being, it appears that male victims of sexual violence will remain sidelined and ignored. There is no indication from the White House, Vice President Biden, or Senators Gillibrand and McCaskill that male victims warrant any attention at all in the effort to eradicate campus sexual violence. (This is especially disheartening, as both Senators have acknowledged male victims of Military Sexual Trauma and ensured that their voices were included at the hearings they convened on MST last year).
I am left to wonder. Why? Why is the fight to end sexual violence so divided? Why are so many people who want to see women and girls protected and supported so unwilling to include all victims in that vision? And why can we not all work alongside one another to ensure that no young person need fear for their safety, or despair that no one will hear them if they cry out for help?
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Read more by Chris Anderson
Support and more info: malesurvivor.org and 1in6.org.
Women, nor men will ever truly be safe ever. Pure safety is a myth, with more than one person or animal alive, you can be harmed. Bacteria, Virii, natural disasters, cancer, etc all limit safety. You can however try make people safeR. You can go overboard and lock each person away in their own room, with guardians 24/7 under constant surveillance which will give physical safety at the expense of human rights and mental anguish… Better though to try educate people on consent, enthusiastic consent, the dangers of drugs n alcohol (like drink spiking, never leave your drink unattended), walk… Read more »
I think this “all men are rapists and all women are victims” focus in the media is just an extension of the attempts by those who want to paint all men as sex offenders. It goes well beyond rape. Just look at the culture in which men interact with children. For a man to want to ‘work’ with children in some way, his intent is called into question. Much like “all men are rapists” you have “all men are pedophiles”. We have men who aren’t allowed to sit with unaccompanied minors on an airplane. They will be publicly humiliated by… Read more »
The title and approach also frames this as an “on campus” issue. It tries to put all the onus on the schools, and focuses all the attention on crimes on campus, when a huge percentage of what the stats cover are actually sexual assaults on students off campus. A “student rape” and an “on-campus rape” are not the same thing. There’s also a very chilling undertone here, probably unintentional, that rape is somehow more terrible when the victim is a college woman than an 18-22 year old woman who’s not in college. Not as big a deal when that happens,… Read more »
I don’t get it. I really don’t. What is this thing with US colleges? I’ve been following the reports in the last few months, and it makes colleges look like nightmarish hellholes, where you cannot go for a week without being raped at least twice, male or female. In my country universities do not have campuses, usually. They are just a bunch of institute buildings scattered all over the city. Students live privately mostly, some in professional dormitories, many in shared apartments. I never heard a peep about toxic, violent fraternities that write rape manuals and haze new members. Sure,… Read more »
@ Theorema Egregium “Is it all blown out of proportion by the media?” You might be interested in this response to it. “Never have sex with a girl unless she’s sent you a text that proves the sexual relationship is consensual beforehand. And it’s a good idea to even follow up any sexual encounter with a tasteful text message saying how you both enjoyed being with one another — even if you never plan on hooking up again. Crazy, I know, but I’ve actually been encouraging my son and his friends to use sexting — minus the lewd photos —… Read more »
Agreed, children are primarily the victims of sexual assault as statistics from around the world confirm. Focusing on this would highlight the fact that sexual assault is not about sex or sexual gratification, but about power and manipulation, and stop it from being a tool in the men vs women (yawn) debate.