It is no secret that sexual assault is a major issue on college campuses nationwide, and it seems as though every which way you turn there are commentaries, writing, older adult opinions, and student movements that make some statement about how we can be progressive in lowering and ultimately halting sexual assault and rape cases across the country.
As a woman involved in Greek Life, I can't count how many times I have been encouraged to take a self-defense class, a sexual assault prevention workshop, or simply familiarize myself with the campus police department services and the blue light system. While I feel secure enough to walk home by myself in the dark, it is always enforced that females never enter or leave any kind of evening social event on their own. So often, women are given the advice to protect themselves, as if they are the ones who are going to prevent these instances from occurring. Continually, women are pinned as the victim, and never is it suggested that we simply teach men to not get sloppy and take a hint when a woman makes it clear that she isn't interested.
Fraternity men have been particularly radical in spreading awareness of sexual assault and rape and educating individuals about the impact it makes on the life of the victim after the single-night occasion. It is hard to say whether or not the events that student organizations are hosting to educate members of the campus community will make waves in unsafe sexual interactions due to the fact that they have just begun to pop up. One would think that in a country that is beginning to view college Greeks as careless troublemakers due to recent news headliners, that communities would begin to straighten their backs and avoid situations that will ultimately put them on the defense.
Men, especially college-aged and greek-involved men, scrutinize each other for behaving a particular way around females that depresses their manliness and earns them the title of "pussy" or the likes. If only men scrutinized their friends and fraternity brothers who are aggressively coming on to a woman who is either too intoxicated to be able to make a concrete decision about whether she would like to engage in a sexual interaction or who is making it clear that she is not interested. While there are plenty of guys who will insert himself into the situation and put an out-of-line pal back in check, it is hard to gage whether or not a male bystander will muster up the courage to put himself in an authority position that may mask itself as a lack of upholding high standards of said manliness.
Rather than providing women with ways to prevent the occurrence of their fall into the category of sexual assault or rape victim over and over again, it may be beneficial to teach men and continually enforce men not to rape, not to sexually assault, and not to even allow himself to enter a position where a female even feels as though he is coming onto her in an unwanted manner. We can spread awareness and hold events that give students and young adults verbal warning and meaning to sexual assault, but rather than putting the emphasis on prevention on to one gender, we must put it onto both.
