Anti-Rape/Sexual Assault Campaigns

[lifeisaparadox]

Have you yet realized that Rapists are not rational human beings, and thus, these ideas you state - all of which are true, by the way, and I FULLY agree with you on these points - have no meaning to them? They do not care if you are a human being - that's the issue in and of itself!

 

Hence, No rational amount of poster campaigns will have an effect on them. So if there is a poster campaign, you must aim it at the groups who DO have control in this situation: normal, rational men and women.

Ahh, I kind of disagree with this. It's so hard to explain because YES, I have seen those sex-crazy rapists who are actually mentally ill. But there are also those men who have no history of any sort of violence, perfect record, maybe even graduated from law school, has a wife and 2 kids, living well who force sex upon someone other than their wife (and actually, even cases where they force sex on their wife -- which follows the "this is not an invitation for rape" campaign that talks about how marriage doesn't necessarily give someone the right to 24/7 sex).

 

I mean rape happens all around, I think what I'm trying to get at is to find a campaign that'll hit all the spots. Men who will help, women who can "prepare" (though as @duke nukem said, it sucks to live in fear of being raped, or even burglarized), and educating the mass population.

 

@duke nukem right now I live in England D: but I'm focusing on American statistics and whatnot because I'm from America.

[OptomisticGirl]

I don't ignore it LoneWing but you are vastly ignoring that many assaults done by someone you know aren't reported at all as well. Or are ignored in my case because of lack of evidence.

 

See, you wish to ignore the pile of Unreported Statistics, the numbers which would completley change this argument. Please go back to this statement, and think about what it means!

 

In most States, it is legally impossible for a woman under the influence of alchohol or other mind altering substances to consent to sex. If a man has sex with her in that time frame, he has committed the act of rape.

 

So in my mind, this act is grossly under reported, and as such, it's impossible to make sense of the overall trend, the overall driving forces, with what statistics are available.

[annie24]

Most rapes are committed by someone the victim knows - in fact, there are a lot of date rapes and even marital rapes. 44% of rapes happen in the victim's own bedroom.

 

link removed

 

What else can be done except for telling women to put on a jacket (and clearly that doesn't help either?) Women in the military get raped by their coworkers (men in the military!!) Those outfits aren't particularly showy either.

 

Maybe having society understand the issues, not blame women for being raped, and to prosecute rapes seriously. Stricter punishments for rapes, longer jail time, castration perhaps?

 

The other thing I want to add is that the clothing is such a red herring. I've worn all sorts of crazy outfits and never been raped. I have been sexually assaulted though, and not when i was wearing anything revealing!

 

A lot of rapists look for easy targets. Someone they can take advantage of. I walk with intention, I memorize where I'm going if I am in a strange city, I am aware of my surroundings, I call a cab if I need to. If I'm at a club, I don't accept drinks from people I don't know, I don't leave my drink unattended. I don't hang out with men who give me "bad feelings." So far, these things have served me well. I've taken self-defense classes as well.

 

I think what we have to do more of is teach women not to be so complacent and docile and teach them how to scream NO. If a man approaches you and you get a bad feeling, walk away. You don't have to be nice to him, you don't have to talk to him, you don't have to answer his questions.

[DN]

Don't shout 'help' or scream.

 

Shout "fire".

[annie24]

Don't shout 'help' or scream.

 

Shout "fire".

 

That doesn't help if there is no one there to hear you.

[Lonewing]

Fair enough, so you as a MAN, can have much impact on this issue. Are you doing anything to help?

 

At this point in my life, I have found the only effective way to avoid the situation is to cut it off altogether. There are far too many inconsistancies - in both the behavior of men and women - for any campaign to have much success at this point.

 

Like I stated, I was in a Sexual Assault Awareness class with a large number of my peers - about 30 people. The purpose of that class was to raise awareness of sexual assualt amongt men. It was men only, and we were encouraged to answer everything truthfully and honestly. Had you been in that room, you would have lost all faith in humanity yourself. The reality is, there is a popular social behavior commonly followed nowadays, and as long as that behavior is followed - by both men and women - we are not going to make any headway on this issue. We are further held back because most people refuse to acknowledge and accept thatthis socail behavior is even an issue in the first palce - it's glamorized, patronized, and well sanctioned by all sides of the arena. And now that you have more women getting in on the casual sex scene, and getting more comfortable with engaging in it, you have further lost any unity you may think "women" as a group may have. You have the girl who does not want to have random casual sex, and right next to her you have the girl who does and she's going straight to the boys with everything hanging out with her full intent being 'GET LAID.'

 

So part one, get girls aware. Step two, get men to stand up for their women - it's kind of true that a man will avoid a girl if she's already with another man. Step three, encourage active monitoring of each other - this includes parents and their children. And step four, get rid of the environment - or stay out of it. Obviously, it's a very tall task of items to accomplish.

 

Me personally, I've gone dry - I flat out refuse to touch alchohol. It very neatly keeps me from associating with the drinkers, which in turn, keeps me disinterested in that scene where most of this activity occurs.

[annie24]

I want to point out one more thing on the topic of "sexy clothes." Just today, a woman posted a question for the men asking which clothing they found most attractive/sexiest. Did you know that most of the men answered "jeans and a T-shirt!" One man said he loves it when his gf wears a flannel shirt and baggy jeans. Another said that women with eyeliner, a cocktail skirt and high heels turned him off.

 

So tell me, if men find the jeans and a T-shirt look most attractive, what do we need to wear instead? burquas like they do in the middle east? i'm pretty sure there is rape there too.

[Lonewing]

I'll reiterate: It is my firm belief that all women should carry a concealed firearm for defense. Combined with proper training it could very likely save your life as well as others.

 

Far more effective is 1, a dog, or 2, another human being. A gun is only useful if you are away that the person in front of you indeed wishes to harm you. Even then you will need between 3 and 5 seconds to draw your weapon and fire.

[annie24]

So part one, get girls aware. Step two, get men to stand up for their women - it's kind of true that a man will avoid a girl if she's already with another man. Step three, encourage active monitoring of each other - this includes parents and their children. And step four, get rid of the environment - or stay out of it. Obviously, it's a very tall task of items to accomplish.

 

You are making too many assumptions about rape and alcohol. Many rapes occur without any alcohol at all. My friend and her boyfriend were having a fight (I don't know about what, but they were sober). But he said, "I'm so angry at you right now, I want to rape you."

 

CLEARLY, he was using rape as a weapon. It was not sex, it was him trying to exert his power over her, to show his anger. there was no alcohol.

 

Did you know that the leading cause of death of pregnant women is murder? And that of women who are murdered, 60% of the time it is by their romantic partners? So don't think that men stepping up to "protect their women" is going to solve the problem when many times, they are the problem!

[Lonewing]

I want to point out one more thing on the topic of "sexy clothes." Just today, a woman posted a question for the men asking which clothing they found most attractive/sexiest. Did you know that most of the men answered "jeans and a T-shirt!" One man said he loves it when his gf wears a flannel shirt and baggy jeans. Another said that women with eyeliner, a cocktail skirt and high heels turned him off.

 

So tell me, if men find the jeans and a T-shirt look most attractive, what do we need to wear instead? burquas like they do in the middle east? i'm pretty sure there is rape there too.

 

Yes, but if they report it, they may very well get stoned to death. So then, it's very likey underreported.

 

We cannot rely on the statistics on this matter; there's too many underreported statistics!!

[Lonewing]

You are making too many assumptions about rape and alcohol. Many rapes occur without any alcohol at all. My friend and her boyfriend were having a fight (I don't know about what, but they were sober). But he said, "I'm so angry at you right now, I want to rape you."

 

CLEARLY, he was using rape as a weapon. It was not sex, it was him trying to exert his power over her, to show his anger. there was no alcohol.

 

Did you know that the leading cause of death of pregnant women is murder? And that of women who are murdered, 60% of the time it is by their romantic partners? So don't think that men stepping up to "protect their women" is going to solve the problem when many times, they are the problem!

 

When I say men, I mean everybody from Fathers, brothers, Cousins, uncles and so forth. And yes, the partner himself. I'm kind of concerend right now because our current male society is NOT reinforcing any positive attitudes towards women. If anything, the current trend suggests a higher number of single men who do not respect women.

 

My only assumption about alchohol goes back to the state definition of consent. It further extends to how, where and why the single guys I know get laid. They go out, get girls drunk, and have sex.

 

I suppose then this adds another wedge to the pie though - Domestic Violence. Or I can use a different term for what I previously labeled Domestic Assault, to simply Pedophilia.

 

There's no one Silver Bullet for Rape. We have to first group the types and then we have to address specific approaches to each type.

 

Thus far we have enumerated Social Assault, Domestic Violence Assault [to include Date Rape and Spouse Rape], Pedofilia, and Anonymous Criminal Assault. In the end it's all rape - but it's also alot like cancer. One treatment does not necessarily work for all strains of the disease.

 

[And I have one more type of rape: Consensual Rape. This one is tricky because unlike the other forms, this one is consensual. Rape as a fantasy seems to be a subject of some porn, erotica, and perhaps even some BSDM, enjoyed by men and women alike. it's not exactly sex - it seems to me to be a bit of a perversion of sex.]

[Lonewing]

I don't ignore it LoneWing but you are vastly ignoring that many assaults done by someone you know aren't reported at all as well. Or are ignored in my case because of lack of evidence.

 

What I am ignoring at this moment are any body of statitics at all on this matter that try to draw any conclusions about rape.

 

I'm doing this because the prevelance of under-reporting and unreporting simply makes these bodies of research inconclusive, at best.

 

Twenty years ago, based upon statistics we had then, we'd have said the catholic clergy were good chaprones for scout camps. Today, we now know that twenty years ago, within the catholic clergy there are a bunch of dirty pedofiles and there has been for a number of years before even that.

 

See how this little discovery completely screws up the earlier conclusion?

[Blue Spiral]

Toss all the posters and mottos aside, give up on everyone older than about six or seven, and invest hundreds of billions in gender re-education, starting in kindergarten. Obviously, you'd have to call it something else, to prevent the usual suspects from panicking. Teach the genders to respect each other. I know that families are supposed to give kids social skills and interpersonal skills, but this is clearly, clearly not happening. For all the talk of men being feminized, if you get a group of men together, it won't be long until the not-quite-rape jokes start being used, in my experience. It's clear that women are viewed as second-class citizens by many. Without getting into politics, a lot of people are trying to roll back the (good but minimal) progress that's been made, in those areas.

 

I don't think either gender particularly likes or respects each other, anymore. We want different things, we have different priorities, etc. Men need to be taught to be less violent and more emotionally expressive, and women need to be taught how to handle their sexual power. Both genders need to be taught not to abuse the advantages they have: physical power/presence for men, and sexual value (i.e., being able to be chased, instead of having to do the chasing) for women. We need to find a way to relate to each other and deal with each other in the new status quo.

 

Right now, we have the worst of both worlds. We have all the problems of the old cultural roles (men feeling pressured to be confident super-providers, women feeling pressured to have a big happy family) and equality-era realignment (neither gender is sure where they stand with each other, as it all depends on the individuals). I think the problem is that too many are trying to have it both ways. We want a little of both, so the old problems stick around, and the confusion/anger remains.

 

My education idea is pie-in-the-sky, obviously. It'd be hugely controversial--people would say it isn't the government's place to teach social skills/"re-invent" gender roles--and it'd have a lot of practical problems, as well. If it even got put into action, it'd probably be hugely watered-down. But I think we need something of that scale to fix the problem.

[Amorterra]

What Anti-rape/Sexual assault campaigns have you seen? Which ones do you find most effective?

 

I think it was called "take back the night"? It was a night march as a way of saying women had every right to walk around at night in perfect safety. Not entirely sure how effective it was, as it took place in the dark so not many people were out and about to see it. I think it would be more effective at an event, or even in daytime.

 

I also recently heard about somewhere in Africa, I think it was, where rape was common- they were giving women these barbed inserts for the vagina so if they were raped, the device would stick into the man's penis. So if a man were to rape a woman with one of these devices, he would have some pretty serious injuries to his nether regions. And I imagine that if a man with such injuries went to a doctor it would immediately be known that he had raped someone. Never heard about how effective the whole thing was, but an interesting idea nonetheless.

[Seraphim]

I have participated in Take Back the Night. I don't feel there is enough attention brought to how prevalent sexual assault is. Most people have no clue whatsoever how prevalent it is and how unreported it is in North America let alone elsewhere in the world.

[Seraphim]

Good lord that's horrible. I was molested by a family member around that age and I remember him saying "I can't help it, you're just hot." Err......

 

Not to take over the thread but what has your mother said about your specific situation? Does she blame you? You don't have to answer of course if that's too personal.

 

Yeah, that is what I was told too. I am not sure how a child is "hot" to an adult. What is hot about a 6 year old???? What is hot about a 13 year old?? Oh yes and they just could not control themselves. Oh please....whatever.

[duke nukem]

Far more effective is 1, a dog, or 2, another human being. A gun is only useful if you are away that the person in front of you indeed wishes to harm you. Even then you will need between 3 and 5 seconds to draw your weapon and fire.

 

 

If it takes you 5 seconds to draw you seriously need more training and better placement. And you can't always have company, so carrying is an added layer of protection.

[Samedy]

The last time I was on public transit I saw an add that I had a fairly strong emotional response to.

 

The ad had a picture of a guy walking a girl to his car (the guy upright, and the woman clearly supposed to be drunk). The message on the poster was something along the lines of "Don't be that guy..."

[DrKitten]

The last time I was on public transit I saw an add that I had a fairly strong emotional response to.

 

The ad had a picture of a guy walking a girl to his car (the guy upright, and the woman clearly supposed to be drunk). The message on the poster was something along the lines of "Don't be that guy..."

 

I read an article about this campaign, and how sexual assault went down by 10% in Vancouver last year. Of course, correlation =/= causation, but it's a step in the right direction. The message needs to hold offenders accountable instead of the victim. It needs to be "don't rape" and not " don't get raped".

[OptomisticGirl]

The last time I was on public transit I saw an add that I had a fairly strong emotional response to.

 

The ad had a picture of a guy walking a girl to his car (the guy upright, and the woman clearly supposed to be drunk). The message on the poster was something along the lines of "Don't be that guy..."

 

I saw one on he news that had a similar situation and t said 'would you want this to be YOUR sister?'

[Moontiger]

I remember a poster from high school. There a pretty girl sitting on a couch, drink in her hand, she is leaning forward with a "sexy" look. All over the poster in different font sizes is the word "Yes" probably 20-30 in total. Then in the smallest font, from her mouth is "No". At the bottom of the poster it said "Only one of these matters."

[Lonewing]

If it takes you 5 seconds to draw you seriously need more training and better placement. And you can't always have company, so carrying is an added layer of protection.

 

I ask you to go ahead and time yourself on how long it takes you to draw your weapon, from the time that you recognize that the person in front of you [or behind you] wishes to cause you harm. It takes a drag-racer around .05 seconds to REACT and start moving. So from the time you recognize the person wishes to harm you, you have lost .05 seconds to pulling the trigger - if it's already drawn and pointed at your attacker.

 

Add in the time it takes to draw the weapon from it's resting place to Ready position.

 

Now add in the time of fobbing through whatever bag or purse you have your gun in. You're also technically not allowed to carry loaded firearms - you're more likely to injure or kill due to a misfire in such event, so add in the time to load it, or at least chamber a bullet from the magazine/turn the revolver one turn.

 

Now factor in that you do not know your rapist is a rapist until he says the words "don't say a word or I shoot" as he grabs you from behind or nabs you from the side. I know a good bartender who lost $300 one night when a guy came up behind him and held a straight razor to his neck. There was nothing he could do at that point, and he knew it. If that person wanted to sodomize him, it was certainly in his power.

 

This is the issue with aiming any sort of training at escalating violence in the event of an attack; you cannot retaliate until you know what you're retaliating again, and up to that point they have the drop. Obviously martial arts will be useful in obtaining the upper hand once you've accessed the situation and know what's within your capabilities, but until that point you have a loaded gun pointed at the back of your head or a knife very firmly pressed to your side or neck. From the onset you are at minimum of 0.05 seconds behind your attacker - from the moment you discover he's your attacker. If he's already 5 seconds into the attck, he's covered 20 feet and his weapon is already drawn and ready should he need it.

 

A dog, or another person, then, is more valuable. Most valueable is a phone, especially if you're talking to someone. If anything happens, you simply have to scream, and the person on the other end can call for better assistance.

[duke nukem]

Bag or purse? Unloaded without a round chambered? You've got to be kidding me.

 

I understand it doesn't work every time, and I never said it was the be all end all. However having a means to protect yourself on your person at all times gives potential victims a better chance to fight back.

 

 

And martial arts are only effective to a point. Less so for a woman because a man will often outweigh the woman negating most any training with sheer size and strength. A bullet, even a small one like a .22 caliber is capable of impeding or incapacitating the largest person rather quickly.

 

 

Of course there are always variables to be considered, but anything to help your chances is a good thing.

[Lonewing]

Bag or purse? Unloaded without a round chambered? You've got to be kidding me.

 

I understand it doesn't work every time, and I never said it was the be all end all. However having a means to protect yourself on your person at all times gives potential victims a better chance to fight back.

 

What, you expect it to be carried right out in the open? If it's out in the open, then the perpetrator already knows you have a gun, but that's still not to stop them for coming u pbehind you and taking it from you. You know that old Highlighter trick? Guess what, as long as you don't know what they have, you're playing a very dangerous hand of poker; calling their bluff could have deadly consequencses even if they don't have what they say they have.

 

Even if it is in a holster, it must be secured in the holster. The only thing more dangerous than a gun in unstable hands, is a gun in an unsecured position!

 

And you never EVER store a firearm with a round under the hammer. That's just good common sense.The reason for the 6th chamber on a sixshooter was not for a sixth round; it was so the cowboy had a place to rest the hammer, so that if the gun were to fall out of the holter and hit the floor, it would not go off an injure someone.

 

I'm not kidding you.

 

The most valuable weapon you have on yourself at all times is your head. Your second most important weapon is a means of long distance communication, but it only works if the person on the other end is aware of the situation and your position. The third most valuable weapon is your car, provided it is in good working order; if it has Onstar, it's perhaps the most lethal weapon you could possibly have. The fourth most valuable weapon is some form of martial arts. And the fifth, a gun, or knife, or other physical weapon.

 

This entire discussion is a moot point, though, because such violent assaults are a small proportion of the incidents in the first place. The overwhelming number are done by people who are presumed to be safe, close, or at least known by the victim. In these cases a weapon is of little use: you've already let the trojan inside your castle. And again in the cases of statuatory/date/spouse rape, again, a weapon is still a moot point. I'd say violent sex crimes are still perhaps 10-20%$ of the pie, overall, which is enough to raise awareness at the very least. Most college campuses have Blue Lights now for this precise reason.

[annie24]

I have to say, we did learn some very good things in self-defense class. i took it at a martial arts studio. now, if my potential attacker has a weapon, that's a different story. but if it's just him, i think some of the things we learned, we can do some real damage. we practiced many different scenarios. from an annoying guy at a bar to how to throw a guy off who is physically on top of us and trying to rape us. we learned a lot of psychological techniques as well. i hope to never be in that position, but i do feel like if i were, i would know how to handle it.

 

i think a stranger on the street is more likely to have a weapon. if it's date or acquaintance rape, he's less likely, thus i think that some of these things we learned would help A LOT.

 

i was watching a TV segment. some man tried to kidnap a little girl (like maybe 7 or 8) from a walmart. they actually had it on surviellance camera. Basically, she just started kicking and screaming and flailing. the fact that she started raising such a fuss made him drop her and he ran out of there. you can imagine, if she cooperated, he might have gotten away with her! in that case, a 7 year old girl was able to "overpower" and outwit the grown man.

 

One of the funniest stories I've ever heard was from my friend in Brazil. She said that she was coming out of the nail salon and some man approached her with a knife and said, "give me all your money!" she was like, "Are you crazy?!?!!?!? i just got my nails done!!! i'm not going to mess up my nails and dig into my pockets!!!" and walked away in a huff. the guy was so confused, he left her alone, lol!! in that case, her totally unexpected reaction saved her. she said another time, a guy tried to rob her and said it was so he could give his sister money for an operation. and then she was very sympathetic, like, "i'm so sorry, i am a doctor, what illness does she have?" etc.... and got into a conversation with him, and she got away, and didn't give him any money.