April 2006 - Effective Prevention of Sexual Violence

The California Black Women's Health Project is working to educate policymakers and the community about the need for programs for boys and young men on sexual violence prevention. Sexual violence is a health issue, a reproductive justice issue, and a mental health issue. Black women are dying because of the silence and denial around the prevalence of sexual abuse and assault in our communities.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Speak Out to End Sexual Violence!

As women, we have all been taught the "do's" and "don'ts" of personal safety. When women are asked in groups to name the things they do to avoid being the victim of a crime they will come up with a long list- "use the buddy system, don't talk to strange men, walk with your keys between your fingers, don't take night classes, check under your car, don't accept an open drink, don't open the door if you are home alone, take a self defense class, lock everything" they will say, almost in unison. These are the things that we are taught to protect ourselves from lurking child molesters and stranger rapists. We are told that if we do all the "right" things, if we "follow the rules", then we will be o.k.-meaning that we will "prevent" sexual assault from happening to us. However, if we are to push for clear and effective policy change for Black women and girls, we must be clear with our language.

The strategies we all learned as girls to protect ourselves are risk-reduction, not prevention. By becoming empowered and informed women, children, and men can reduce the risk of becoming a victim of sexual assault. However, even those individuals engaging in so-called high-risk behaviors never cause the sexual assault to happen. Vulnerability does not equal culpability. Only perpetrators of sexual violence are responsible for their choice to sexually violate and take the power and control from another person. If we continue to blame the victims of assault and teach girls and women only to reduce their risk we are not truly preventing sexual violence. Effective prevention must actively engage young boys, bystanders, and our misinformed communities.

Rape victims are more likely than non-victims interviewed to be in poor health, have frequent health problems, use drugs and alcohol, express low satisfaction with life, experience depression, and think about suicide.¹ Approximately 40% of Black women report coerced or forced sexual contact by the age of 18. ² At least 88% of these crimes are committed by someone of the same racial background as the victim.³ Historically, Black women have felt obligated and been pressured to protect Black men from a racist criminal justice system, thus we have not only resisted reporting to police, but kept this type of abuse a secret in our families and communities. For every African American woman that reports a sexual assault, 15 others live in silence and do not tell.⁴ How many little Black girls (and little boys for that matter) will we sacrifice? How many women's lives must be devastated by the loss, fear, rage, anxiety, and depression brought on by this traumatic crime? Telling our daughters, nieces and sisters to "be careful" or that "men are dogs" is not helpful nor does it provide for the safety of our women and children.

Primary prevention with men and boys must be utilized to change the attitudes and behaviors that promote and excuse sexual assault, abuse and harassment. Statistics show us that 98% of sex offenders are male and 96% are heterosexual (regardless of their victim's gender).⁵ The average sex offender starts offending in his teen years. ⁶ This means that we must provide prevention education to boys, before they become teens, before they become desensitized to the combination of sex and violence.

Recently enacted legislation, AB 1088, authored by Assemblymember Oropeza is commonly known as the Campus Sexual Assault Prevention bill. This measure requires colleges and universities to provide all entering college freshman and transfer students information on sexual assault prevention education during campus orientation.⁷ The bill went to the assembly floor Sept. 6 of 2005 and was passed by a 50-29 vote. On Oct. 7, 2005 it went to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was signed into law. The law requires community colleges, California State Universities, and University of California campuses to adopt and implement written policies for responding to the sexual assault of a student or staff member on or around campuses. It also requires the campus, in collaboration with campus-based and community-based victim advocacy programs, to provide educational and preventive information to students during regular student orientations and on their websites.⁸

This legislation is a step forward for prevention of sexual assault. College-aged women are at extreme risk for sexual assault, especially during their first year in college. One in six female college students report a rape or attempted rape during the preceding year and being raped in college is the leading reason that women do not return to college after the first semester.⁹ Prevention education and self-defense classes for this age group will help to prevent and reduce the risk of sexual assault on campuses across California. Thanks to this legislation, and other federal legislation such as the Jeanne Clery Act, parents and students have the right to more information and support when a sexual assault happens on campus.¹⁰ However, what about the numerous sexual assaults that do not happen on a college campus? How do we reach young boys before they are part of the one-third of college-aged men who say they would "have sex" with an unwilling partner, if they thought they could get away with it?¹¹

The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in partnership with Men Can Stop Rape, have implemented the My Strength campaign in California. This campaign is directed at young men and empowers them to shape healthy, violence free relationships and communities. The My Strength campaign has launched with billboards, radio and TV advertisements across California, claiming that men's "strength is not for hurting". This campaign also utilizes Men of Strength (MOST) clubs for young men on high school campuses. Pilot programs are using this curriculum which reframes traditional gender roles, an underlying cause of sexual violence, with new positive ways to be masculine. High schools, community groups, and rape crisis educators in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, and Sonoma are among the first to use this campaign.¹²

Many organizations such as Men Stopping Rape, the National Association of Men Against Sexism, and Men Can Stop Rape have been quietly doing this work for years, mostly on the east coast with men of color. However, the My Strength campaign will present these concepts to younger boys and adolescents in California, in an effort to stop sexual violence and other violence against women before it starts. True prevention of sexual assault must start long before a young man enters college or young adulthood. Young boys need to start learning new models of masculinity before they are teenagers. Researcher Anna Salter, a sexual violence and sex offender expert, points out that negative peer groups and attitudes about sexual assault are two of the most influential factors in determining behaviors in juvenile sex offenders.¹³ Intervention must happen early enough to change these attitudes about women, sex, and what it means to "be a man" before young boys make devastating behavioral choices.

As Men Can Stop Rape points out, we must also make this educational material culturally competent in order to effectively address the silence around these issues in communities of color. They have found success in pointing out that sexual violence and racism are connected.¹⁴ Both racism and sexual violence (fueled by sexism) use words and actions as weapons to dehumanize people, they thrive in silence and misinformation, and are part of the fabric of our nation.¹⁵ Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, also break the silence about this connection in their book GenderTalk: the Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities. "The predictable script goes like this: White racism victimizes Black men, Black men then mistreat Black women "this [is a] shameless and largely unexamined argument". ¹⁶ They point out that by debunking the myth that being victimized by racism causes one to commit acts of sexual violence, we will finally hold the men who commit these acts accountable and teach boys different ways of thinking and behaving for future generations.

Many anti-violence activists are inviting young Black men to be a part of the solution. Sly Jones, in an article in the Star Tribune, points to many of the all-too-influential music stars in the Black community, and what message their music sends to young men and the world about Black culture. "This fantasy brand of black life is on display 24/7 in nasty videos and CDs that use so-called gangsta imagery to exploit black women. They also make black men look like handkerchief-headed predators whose love of gold chains is exceeded only by their passion for the free exchange of bodily fluids."¹⁷ Actor Dorian Gregory - best known for his roles on TV's Charmed, Soul TrainThe Other Half, as well as the movie Deliver Us From Eva, was on hand for the My Strength launch. "The My Strength campaign and the Strength Team are important because they are truly taking sexual violence education to the next level by involving young men in the solution," said Gregory. "It's crucial that men demonstrate strength of character in their relationships, rather than apply their strength and masculinity to physical domination and force. By using strength for respect and maintaining healthy relationships, we will make a giant step toward solving this serious issue."¹⁸ Programs that address the connection between all forms of oppression are crucial to preventing sexual violence. We must speak out as strongly against the sexism and sexual violence in our own communities as we do against racism and the myth of "all Black men as rapists".

Jackson Katz, a renowned anti-sexism and gender violence educator, gives credit to the Rape Crisis Movement and anti-racism activists for the ideas he utilizes and work he does with boys and men. He points out that there is a crisis in masculinity that needs to be addressed, especially with young men and boys, if we are to stop sexual violence.¹⁹ Programs like his utilize the positive aspects of boyhood such as teamwork, strength and speaking up to empower boys to be MVP's or Mentors in Violence Prevention. Desensitization and normalization of sexual violence is a problem we must tackle as a community if we are to see a safe world, free of sexual violence for Black women and girls.

To find support, information or to become a volunteer, please contact:

Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN): 1(800) 656-HOPE or www.RAINN.org

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1(800) 799-7233 or www.ndvh.org

California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA): www.calcasa.org

Statewide California Coalition of Battered Women (SCCBW) www.sccbw.org

Verbal Abuse Support Resources www.verbalabuse.org

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community www.dvinstitute.org

Faith Trust Inc. (Faith and domestic and sexual violence) www.faithtrustinstitute.org

The Black Church and Domestic Violence www.bcdvi.org

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence www.ncadv.org.

1.Harris, Louis, and Associates,"The Health of American Women Survey", www.actabuse.com

2.Africana Voices Against Violence, Statistics, www.ase.tufts.edu/womenscenter/peace/africana

3.California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, www.calcasa.org

4.Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, U.S. Department of Justice

5.California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Research Report, www.calcasa.org

6.Anna Salter, Ph.D., Conference presentation on adolescent sex offenders, www.annasalter.com

7.California Legislative Women's Caucus, Legislation, www.sen.ca.gov/womenscaucus/legislation

8.California College and University Police Chiefs Association, Newsletter, www.ccupca.com

9.Robin Warshaw, I Never Called It Rape

10.Security On Campus, The Jeanne Clery Act, www.securityoncampus.org

11.Pennsylvania State University, Orientation, www.psu.edu

12.California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, (CALCASA), www.calcasa.org

13.Anna Salter, Ph.D., www.annasalter.com

14.Men Can Stop Rape, Resources, www.mencanstoprape.org

15.Men Can Stop Rape, Resources, www.mencanstoprape.org

16.Cole, J.B. and Guy-Sheftall, B., Gender Talk: The Struggle for Equality in African American Communities, 2003

17.Stop Family Violence, www.stopfamilyviolence.org

18.My Strength, www.mystrength.org

19.Jackson Katz, "Tough Guise", DVD, www.jacksonkatz.com