Group calls for end of rape

More than 100 students gathered Thursday to demand an end to the "culture of rape" at IU and called on the University to implement a mandatory rape prevention workshop for all incoming students. The demonstration behind Woodburn Hall was the second annual "Stand Up and Be Counted" protest.\nThe predominantly female group wore black and each had a number, one through 131, the number they say is the best estimate of student rapes in the past year. \nTwenty-one students have reported rapes to the Bloomington and IU police departments since August 2005, according to a press release from gender studies professor Julie Thomas.\nThe group estimates that the actual number of rapes on campus in the past year is between 75 and 131, citing statistics that show 16 to 28 percent of victims usually file a police report.\n"I'd like to think more women are comfortable reporting rape, not that there's a higher incidence, but there's no way to tell," Thomas said.\nThe demonstration concluded with a list of three demands of the University. First, they ask that IU administration acknowledge the real number of assaults on campus each year, not just those that are reported. Second, they ask that all staff be fully trained in sexual assault prevention. The final demand is for the implementation of a mandatory first-year student rape prevention workshop, hopefully beginning next semester. \n"It's a massive project," Dean of Students Richard McKaig said. "You have about 6,500 students divided into groups of 30 and that's a challenging assignment."\nThough women made up a large part of the protest, several men also came, saying they wanted to make it clear that it is everyone's responsibility to end rape.\n"This is about the way men present their masculinity," said Nigel Pizzini, founder of the IU Men's Coalition. "This is not just a woman's problem. This affects us all"