Editor,
In response to the recent groping incidents on UNM campus, UNM President Robert G. Frank and UNMPD Police Chief Kathy Guimond released the following guidelines to prevent such future incidents:
• Be aware of your surroundings at all times. For example, do not wear earphones when walking or engage in other behaviors that may distract you from your environment.
• Walk with a trusted friend whenever possible.
• Attempt to walk in well-lit, high-traffic areas.
• Keep dorm, apartment and car doors locked.
• Immediately report suspicious behavior to police. Police would rather respond to a tip that turns out to be easily explained than be notified after a crime has occurred.
While the administration should be applauded for not ignoring the issue, this list suffers from a lack that also exists in public discourse at large about sexual violence toward women: it provides directives to women for avoiding sexual assault, but no directives to men not to be assailants.
Rape, along with related crimes, is a serious issue. Yet our public discourse generally only addresses women, telling them how to avoid rape. It does not say to men, “Don’t be a rapist,” or even advise them how to help reduce and avoid sexual violence in our culture.
Think about it. There were two people involved in the most recent groping incident. And what do we get? A list of things the female survivor could have done, but nothing about the male assailant. That’s insulting to everyone.
So, that’s the first purpose of this letter to the editor, to say this to men: Don’t be rapists. Don’t grope women. Don’t date rape.
Don’t get girls drunk and take advantage of them. Don’t try to coerce women into sex. These are not the actions of men; they are the actions of cowards. Don’t be a coward.
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We can’t stop rape and sexual violence just by telling women what to do. We have to help men learn how to act, how to avoid becoming rapists themselves and how to become allies with women against this culture of violence.
My second purpose here is to issue a call to action. Earlier this year, I contacted a national anti-rape activist organization called Men Can Stop Rape (MenCanStopRape.org) to discuss the possibility of starting a chapter on UNM campus. Unfortunately the initial training cost of $15,000 might be prohibitive, but we need to do something, even if we just start a grass-roots organization on campus. We need another voice on campus, a voice that can counter demands toward women to avoid being raped with demands that men not be rapists, and suggest how man can help stop rape.
So, if you are interested in taking an active part in an anti-rape organization directed at men, contact me at Doug@unm.edu and we’ll see if we can get something started.
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
UNM faculty
