Take Back The Night

I am going to rant.  I may be graphic.  I am probably going to make some uncomfortable but to that I say good.  Sometimes from that uncomfortable feeling comes change.  And our society needs change.
I have not followed this Steubenville tragedy but as I was seeing disgusting things the media was putting out there I found myself turning to Google for the story to check my facts.  I made it no further than CNN.  One of the witnesses in the situation a)took video of the girl being violated but then erased it later when he realized it was wrong.  When asked why he didn't stop it he said because "It wasn't violent.  I didn't exactly know what rape was.  I thought it was forcing yourself on someone."

Another witness took photos and showed them to his friends.  His account of the incident included that the victim "She wasn't moving. She wasn't talking.  She wasn't participating."

So we have at least one 18 year boy that didn't question the act because it didn't look violent enough and apparently doesn't understand what forcing yourself upon someone is.  In my book engaging in an act with someone that is unresponsive/non-participating is considered "forcing yourself upon someone."

When I was in college they always told us to look around the room.  They said that if you sat in a circle with 4 women statistics showed that 1 out of the 4 women had been the victim of a sexual assault.  17 years later they now say 1 in 3.  I say that number is entirely too low.  I have sat in a room with numerous women before and I can tell you the percentage was higher than 33%.  Why is that statistic not accurate?  Go check out the media's account of this story, the fact that this underage girl's name has now been released by the media and do some research into the death threats this victim has now received because she came forward. Come back to me with the question of why sexual assaults are not reported.

Yearly, generally on the last Thursday of the month in April men and woman stand together in an effort to Take Back The Night.  Attend one of these events if you can.  It will change you.  Take your children, it will educate them.  If you can't attend then use this night as a starting point for conversation with your children.  Educate them.  Give them the tools to make better decisions.  Open the door for them to speak to you.  Do something, do anything but ignore this.  Don't think it can't hit home.  Don't find yourself asking "Why" later on down the road because your child was the victim or perhaps the perpetrator.  This is not a problem that will go away if we sweep it under the rug.  The first documented Take Back The Night event in the United States was in 1975.  38 years later it appears statistically this is getting worse not better.