Monday, April 13, 2015

This Happened To Me, Too

I'm over at wrighterly.com this week with a guest column entitled, "This Happened To Me, Too". The column is part of Stephanie Wright's "52 Mondays" - if you care at all about stopping DV as well as sexual violence, you need to check out her work EVERY WEEK. Week after week she has consistently raised her voice and increased the level of dialogue on the subject - Stephanie Wright is one of those true heroes who makes a difference in her words and actions.  I'm flattered and honored to add my voice to hers'.

Please take a moment to read "52 Mondays" then take a stand.

Make a difference at stopping DV and sexual violence.

You can read "52 Mondays" here

Sunday, April 12, 2015

2 College Students Charged in Sexual Attack on Florida Beach



I’ve talked and written at length about DV and sexual violence – I’m fortunate to have a guest post at wrighterly.com later this week (part of Stephanie Wright’s excellent 52 Mondays series) where I’ll be writing about sexual violence on college campuses.  Within that post I’ll deal specifically with the “It’s On Us” campaign.

For those unfamiliar with “It’s On Us”, the campaign encourages bystander intervention – students stepping into bad situations to help potential victims.  From the “It’s On Us” website:


“The campaign reflects the belief that sexual assault isn’t just an issue involving a crime committed by a perpetrator against a victim, but one in which the rest of us also have a role to play. We are committed to creating an environment - be it a dorm room, a party, a bar or club, or the greater college campus - where sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported. This effort will support student-led efforts already underway across the country, and will focus particularly on motivating college men to get involved……. By getting men involved, we can change this way of thinking (violence against women) and create new social norms..”

So imagine my horror this morning when I came across this article in the NY Times while drinking my coffee:



Obviously those students on the beach in Panama City, Florida are not only clueless about “It’s On Us”, but lack the moral fiber to do what’s right in a situation that is clearly wrong.  "This is happening in broad daylight with hundreds of people seeing and hearing what is happening, and they are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped," Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said.

We need to do more than getting men involved.

We need to teach boys to respect all women. 

We need to teach men not to rape. 

And apparently we need to teach other men to put down their beers and get involved when they see something wrong happening.



More more info on "It's On Us", check out their PSA:
"It's On Us" PSA