CW: Sexual Assault

Someone you know has been a victim of sexual violence. Statistically speaking, this statement is true for nearly everyone.

The Trump administration wants to roll back the burgeoning federal protections for sexual assault victims at American universities.

Scores of survivors of sexual violence are struggling to counter this legislative action for fear of returning to a time when rape victims were ignored at best, and viciously ridiculed at worst. At least 118 survivors have acted against this legislation by collaborating on an impassioned letter to the administration and meeting Secretary of Education Betsy Devos this week to fight to keep federal protection from a problem that disproportionately affects them.

The meeting is split into three sections. Sexual assault victims only get 90 minutes to state their case. The final third is given to university lawyers, and the middle section is for those speaking on the rights of people falsely accused of rape.

While RAINN estimates that about 17% of women and 3% of men are victims of sexual assault, the most verifiable statistic finds only 2-8% of rape accusations to be false, while only about 6 out of 1000 rapists spend a day in jail. Represented in the middle section of the meeting is the National Coalition of Men, a hate group affiliated with the men’s rights movement, a misnomer if there ever was one.

For those of you who have not yet had whore/bitch/cuck/make me a sandwich/ hurled at you (usually online) by the fellows associated with this movement, here is the men’s rights movement (MRA) in a nutshell.

The movement is multi-faceted, but the message is surprisingly simple: Attack feminism and anything feminine in all capacities for fear of cisgender, heterosexual men losing any of the historical advantages they have over everyone else.

The movement claims to care about equal rights and the protection of men, but largely fails to speak out on behalf of male rape victims, trans men, mass incarceration, or the damage caused by toxic masculinity. They take high rates of male identified suicide, a tragic symptom of a failing mental health system, and blame it broadly on feminism. This makes the aforementioned message painfully clear.

The men’s rights movement only pretends to care about men’s issues as a cover for deep seated misogyny, to the detriment of all people.

Like any big internet movement, the men’s rights movement is characterized by different disciplines and levels of extremism. Paul Elam, the founder of A Voice for Men, once said he would acquit any man charged with rape were he on the jury, no matter how beaten and bloody the victim was, no matter the evidence.

This ideology has been linked to some grisly outcomes. Self proclaimed men’s rights supporter Elliot Rodger went on a killing spree because he was angry with women for not sleeping with him. He was frequently active on MRA websites like PuaHate.com before the murders.

The National Coalition of Men does not hide their misogyny. Their homepage is covered in sardonic articles mocking women for asking to be treated like people. They have been known to spread pictures and personal information of women who press charges for rape, claiming they are false accusers and leaving them open to violent harassment. One article dubbed “Domestic Violence by Dummies” savagely ridicules domestic violence victims, accusing them of fabricating their abuse for money. Some of the strongest women I know were nearly killed by their intimate partners, making this implication even more infuriating to me personally. Not only does this organization disrespect the millions of lives affected and even lost to domestic violence, it spits in the face of male victims by exploiting their pain in lieu of guiding them to helpful resources.

To Betsy Devos,

When you invite abusive monsters into a much-needed discussion of campus sexual assault, when you make rape survivors relive their trauma amongst people who harass them, you show us who you really are. Here I must quote the letter written for you by survivors:

“exactly who are you here to serve?”