Forty years ago, an ad appeared in Los Angeles newspapers that read: ARE YOU A RAPIST? RESEARCHER INTERVIEWING ANONYMOUSLY BY PHONE. CALL 213/_ _ _–_ _ _ _/ 9-9 PM. Dr. Samuel Smithyman, the principal investigator, expected few if any responses – he got hundreds.

Smithyman’s surprise might call to mind the realizations men and women across the country have had in light of the #MeToo movement. The men who called him listed so many different reasons for their actions and came from such diverse backgrounds that he found it difficult to draw any conclusions. That, too, might sound familiar.

Sexual violence transpires at absurd rates in every culture, under every government, in every city and in many forms. RAINN, the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the US, documented 1.6 sexual assaults per 1,000 people in 2015. If that statistic doesn’t sound like a lot to you, consider that, given that the US population stands around 320 million, that amounts to just shy of one assault per minute. Even that doesn’t capture the full scope of the problem because many (most) assaults go unreported. The following World Health Organization graphic illustrates how the most common causes of sexual violence interact with the likelihood of the act’s being reported:

All of that can’t happen in a vacuum. American gender roles, workplace dynamics, sexual mores, media representations, double standards, “locker room talk,” and public policy all enable sexual violence. And if you don’t think you feed that culture – if you, like me, are an upper-middle class liberal college student who’s never been touched by an abuse of power – you may want to think again. As influential men like Harvey Weinstein are finally answering for their abhorrent behavior, I’ve watched people I know and people I care about come forward with their experiences of sexual assault. I’ve also watched people I care about be accused of sexual assault. I’ve had to ask myself: doesn’t it say something about you if the politicians you align yourself with behave this way? Can you be an ally if you spent high school committing Louis CK bits to memory? How are you not responsible if someone you considered a friend turns out to be a rapist?

The way to combat sexual violence does not involve charging bravely down an alleyway to rescue some damsel in distress. It requires gradual, sustained effort, self-examination, and empathy. Here are the actions you can take that would make the greatest difference:

1) Think about the language you use. Regardless of intent, the use of derogatory terminology makes it easier for men to treat women as second-class citizens.

2) If you see or hear of attitudes or behaviors that could facilitate sexual violence, say something. Abusers interpret silence as endorsement.

3) Listen to survivors’ stories… they’re not doing it for the glory in it, trust me.

4) Advocate for sexual education and violence prevention. Some of the organizations it’s most worth your time to support include RAINN (https://www.rainn.org), NAESV (http://endsexualviolence.org), the NO MORE campaign (https://nomore.org), and GW’s own LEAD (http://www.leadnow.org).

If you live in a society where sexual violence is a problem, you are accountable for it. Do something about it.