Not a woman’s burden

ATTENTION ALL WOMEN!\nIn order to avoid rape or assault, abstain from leaving your home at night. If you must go out for, say, a medical emergency, travel in a herd; form a human shield if necessary. Never attend parties and never consume alcoholic beverages, as a state of intoxication renders you more vulnerable to attacks. If you can, obtain weapons to use against potential assailants, like pepper spray, knives, shotguns – whatever you can use to protect yourself – and carry them with you at all times. For maximum security, hire bodyguards to accompany you everywhere you go.\nThough this advice is extreme, it is only the logical extension of advice routinely doled out to women. The “scare the women” spiel is typically orated to college women during residence hall meetings or freshman orientations in an effort to help women avoid potentially dangerous situations. \nAmid the recent slew of campus assaults, a Wednesday Indiana Daily Student article titled “Police vow to keep campus safe in wake of sex crimes, ” featured the advice of Francesca Monn, the treasurer of IU Friends of Middleway House, and Kristen Jozkowski, a leader in Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters. \nAs these two community leaders know, sexual assault is an unfortunate reality. They advised students (presumably female ones) to be aware of their surroundings, to go to parties with friends and to avoid walking home alone at night to avoid assault. \nIndeed, women must take precautions to be safe. However, it is important to note that the burden of ending sexual violence should not be placed entirely on women’s shoulders. \nSexually violent crime can be prevented on two fronts. The first, and easier, route is to ask women to modify their behavior in order avoid sexual assault. But this method also asks women to live in a crippled state of immobility and fear. \nThe second front in preventing sexual violence is much more difficult to address – it is changing the society we live in.\nSome feminists claim our society rife with sexual violence and even refer to it as a “rape culture.” I’m not sure I agree, but the idea points to something significant. There are reasons women are raped and assaulted more frequently than men – because our culture has established a power relationship of men over women, because women are more frequently sexually objectified, thus leading to the idea that women should be sexually available anytime, all the time, or because the people who commit sexual crimes are severely troubled. \nFurthermore, advising women to take safety precautions indicates that rape and sexual assault are most likely perpetrated by strangers or by drunks, when, it is actually more likely that a woman will be raped by someone she knows.\nFor now, women should take precautions but not be crippled by fear. Call the IU Safety Escort (855-SAFE) to drive you home at night, or walk on main streets. \nBut as a long-term goal, we must start transforming our society. We must examine the reasons for sexual violence in the hopes of one day ending it. \nOnly then will we walk alone without anything to fear.