Recent events highlight need for sex education
Last week Zerlina Maxwell, a political analyst and a victim of rape, stirred up a controversy by claiming men could be “taught not to rape.” Maxwell was taken to task by several publications for what was regarded as “bizarre” logic and was subject to threats of rape on Twitter and Facebook. Though thorough instruction on what rape is and how to handle sexual relations wouldn’t stop all sexual assaults, Maxwell is really onto something.
The recent Steubenville High School rape case in Ohio demonstrated the heart of the point Maxwell made. The two football players at the center of the trial were convicted Sunday, but testimony during the trial displayed an appalling portrait of high school life. A high school girl, who was clearly incapacitated from a night of heavy drinking, was mocked by her peers and eventually was raped by the aforementioned players. Many of the students involved showed an alarming and callous disregard for the victim. But importantly, the lone eyewitness to the rape testified he did not stop the assault because “it wasn’t violent.” He continued, “I didn’t know exactly what rape was. I always pictured it as forcing yourself on someone.”
Maxwell’s point is that there are a lot of men who don’t completely understand what rape is. We imagine a big hooded figure lurking in the shadows, when in reality two-thirds of all rapes are committed by someone who knew the victim, and other studies have suggested that number is much higher for college students. There is no way to know if the witness would have stopped the rape from occurring even if he did completely understand what rape was, but it couldn’t have hurt.
In both middle school and high school, I was required to take courses that covered sexual health and reproduction. But if we ever really had in-depth discussion of rape, I don’t remember it. Mandating that sexual education classes have a lengthy discussion on what rape actually is would go a long way toward preventing at least some sexual assaults. Of course not everyone will listen, and there are plenty of people who know exactly what rape is and will still commit it. However, knowledge is still a powerful weapon and there is proof this can help assault numbers. In Vancouver, British Columbia, an ad campaign ran to increase awareness of sexual assault called “Don’t be that guy” was credited with a 10-percent drop in the city’s rape numbers.
The idea that men can be taught not to rape is actually very sensible and not bizarre in the least. Comments like those made by Todd Akin show that even politicians can be completely mistaken about what rape is. Taking the time to make sure all of our children understand what constitutes a sexual assault can only help, and everyone should be able to support that.
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