As a girl, I am taught by society to not get drunk, to not wear revealing clothes, and to not dance or have a fun night. I am told that I need to take self-defense classes, carry pepper spray, or hold my keys in between my fingers so that I am prepared for attacks. This is evident on college campuses, in high schools, and basically everywhere else. If you search for a self defense class near you, a bunch of options will show up.
Now don't get me wrong. Self defense is extremely important for survival. However, there shouldn't be such a strong emphasis on self defense in means of protecting against rape. Girls should not wander the streets at night, always peeking over their shoulder to make sure no one is following them. The fact that this is such a common habit proves how wrong society is.
To further show how messed up the world is, statistics say that "in the United States, a rape is reported about once every five minutes," according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2000. Also, one in six women have reported either an attempted rape or completed rape.
While the self defense has thankfully helped many girls escape from this terrible incident, I don't believe that we as a society are doing all we can to change this. So how do we solve this? The answer is plain and simple, as ironic as it may seem. I propose that we go straight to the source: Talk to boys before they become rapists.
The court system has shown boys that they can get away with rape. This has been broadcasted in the Stanford Rape Case. It is our duty as a society to teach everyone right vs. wrong. I read that "when boys hear the word 'no,' they try harder." No means no. It should always mean no. Just simply teaching boys that no means no and that it does not mean to try harder, get closer, or just do what they want, could change everything.
Role models, athletes, celebrities, schools, teachers, parents, siblings, and strangers need to start speaking up. Walking through the halls, I hear boys say, "Oh my god, she is such a slut." Or, "If she doesn't put out every day of the week, then she isn't worth it." The list of insults and degrading words towards women goes on and on. To this, many people will say, "Oh, they're just teenage boys. It's harmless." Or, "Don't worry, they will grow out of it." But in fact, it is just letting them form these horrible images of women that may turn violent. Not to mention the brutal verbal abuse those women face.
I'm not saying that every boy is going to become a rapist if they aren't talked to. I'm saying that we need to take a stand and create organizations that go and talk to males and put an end to rape. We need to alter everyone's perspective on the issue of rape. Instead of teaching girls what to do to avoid rape and how to protect themselves from it, we need to teach boys how to properly treat girls. And society is largely at fault for this. In the past, the majority of boys would respect women, take them on dates, make sure they got home on time for curfew, and called them the next day. Now the majority of boys go to a bar, take a girl home one night without even knowing her last name, hook up with her, and then never speak to her again. Our concepts of "dating," "romance," and "love" are so skewed that the majority of our population doesn't even realize it.
We need to rebuild what has been lost.
The world needs to stop waiting to act until something happens. How many more rapes before it is enough? Take a stand now, and change a life. Prevent rape.
