Girls View Sexual Violence as Normal

In March, our Salons at Stowe program hosted “Campus in Crisis: Speaking Out to End the Violence,” a conversation on sexual assault on college campuses.   The discussion acknowledged how common sexual violence is on college campuses and investigated potential solutions to the issues of rape and assault.  In accordance with our discussion, a new study issued by the sociology journal Gender& Society found that abuse often goes unreported as victims rationalize the behavior as normal.   To reach these findings, sociologist Heather Hlavka analyzed 100 interviews conducted by the Children’s Advocacy Center with youth between the ages of 3 and 17 who may have been sexually assaulted.  She concluded that young women often experience forms of sexual violence in their everyday lives which reinforces the notion that abuse is normal and thus does not warrant a report. 

Click HERE to read a brief overview of the report.

 

How can we mitigate the lack of reporting of sexual assault and violence?  What can we change socially, politically, and interpersonally to change the dynamics that suggest assault is normal?  In what ways can we work to educate young women and men on the issue of sexual assault?  In what way can women and men collaborate on this issue?  Share below!