Thursday, March 29, 2007
Identifying problems is easy. But coming up with solutions is much harder and that’s why I am constantly amazed by the work of the group One in Four. The group is named after the frightening statistic that one in four women is raped or sexually assaulted before she graduates from college. The group consists of men who are recent college graduates who travel to college campuses to educate students about prevention and therapy through speeches and videos. There are also local chapters, including the University of Kansas’, that do work on a local level. We can make rape and sexual assault less of a problem at the University by learning from the activities of One in Four.
Statistically sexual assault and rape are huge problems within our society. There are many groups and programs in Lawrence working to fix this problem, but until One in Four, there was a gap in the way it was being handled.
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One in Four gives students practical advice, such as don’t respond to a friend’s claim of sexual assault with more violence. Beating up the person who hurt your friend won’t help the situation, but listening and offering to get professional help can.
College students respond better when addressed by other college students or recent graduates. This peer education style allows us to understand, discuss and learn about rape and sexual assault in an environment that is familiar and comfortable.
One in Four addresses men not as part of the problem, but as a positive part of the solution. This message is more powerful and better received on campuses. Blaming an entire gender for the terrible actions of very few makes no sense, and only compounds the trauma brought to victims. I’ve heard a lot of people, from professors to students, address rape and sexual assault as if all men at the University are part of the problem. This just isn’t true. Almost all men can be or already are part of the solution.
One in Four gives students practical advice, such as don’t respond to a friend’s claim of sexual assault with more violence. Beating up the person who hurt your friend won’t help the situation, but listening and offering to get professional help can. After hearing these simple steps I feel like I can’t only better protect myself from rape and sexual violence but I can offer help to others. There’s something reassuring and powerful about hearing these things from guys who look and act like my classmates and my own guy friends. That’s the beauty of One in Four, it’s just college student to college student.
I was amazed by the power of One in Four’s message and the hope it contained. The organization empowers, both male and female, college students to take responsibility and action. By teaching this in such a way that doesn’t blame all men for the disgusting actions of a very, very small number of men and women, One in Four is teaching tolerance and understanding.
By using the tools of nonviolence and listening taught by the organization we can all help put an end to sexual assault and violence both here and in our nation as a whole.
Stuewe is a Junior in political science and American studies
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