Students Stopping Rape

Make Efforts to Educate Yourself Before Passing Judgment

by Carl Barnes
[ View original Daily Nexus article ]

In response to Alec Mouhibian’s article, “Clearing the Angry Air” (Daily Nexus, May 5) we, Men Against Rape (MAR), would like to make some clarifications. It is unclear what Mouhibian’s definition of sexual assault and rape is, though he accuses us of having too wide a conception. He cites the example of his friend’s experience with child molestation, and we agree that legitimately falls under the category of rape. However, not all sexual assaults are of that kind. According to UCSB policy, which is derived nearly verbatim from the California Penal Code, “the absence of informed consent is the critical component distinguishing a crime from a sexual encounter.” This emphasis on consent informs our working definition of sexual assault. From this you can recognize that there is a continuum of sexual assault, including verbal abuse, ass grabbing, rape and child molestation, among others. The unifying characteristic underlying these behaviors is the absence of consent between the parties involved. There is no hierarchy of pain. There is no sense in comparing people’s misery in order to try to prove a point. Our goal as MAR is to end sexual assault, all of which is real violence.

Mouhibian clearly has very strong feelings about this issue. Yet, he has never come to our meetings and has no qualms about passing judgment on what we do. We are working to end violence such as that experienced by his friend. Mouhibian’s attack on the character of our group is thus counterproductive. We would like to extend an invitation to Mr. Mouhibian to attend an open forum that we are hosting on sexual assault. Now is the time to have serious dialogue on this issue. The forum will be Thursday, May 12 in the Santa Rosa formal lounge. All are welcome to attend, no matter their viewpoint.

Carl Barnes is a graduate student in philosophy.

Group Asks for 3-Day Halt on Rape, Assault

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The Rape Prevention Education Program (RPEP) is asking for a truce this weekend.

The program is sponsoring the “I Want a Truce” campaign, which encourages students and community members to sign a pledge promising that they will “not caress, grab, hold, pinch, kiss or rape anyone who does not give their sober consent” over the Oct. 21 to Oct. 24 weekend. Participants received a free t-shirt when they signed the pledge. RPEP Media Outreach Intern Susan Landgraff said the campaign is part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and stems from a speech delivered by Andrea Dworkin to 500 men at an antiviolence conference in 1983. The campaign is expected to draw at least 200 participants, Landgraff said.

“We have 200 shirts and are expecting 200 signatures, since we always run out of shirts,” she said.

Landgraff also said RPEP has placed several purple ribbons - a symbol of sexual assault awareness - around campus, and a kick-off party was held Oct. 20 at Woodstock’s Pizza in Isla Vista.

An anonymous survey showed an estimated 350 to 500 women on the UCSB campus are victims of sexual assault each year, Landgraff said. Men Against Rape member Carl Barnes said another survey reports that one in four women are victims of sexual assault before they graduate from college.

Barnes said the short length of the event is meant to draw people’s attention to the high rate of sexual assault in I.V.

“Isn’t it kind of ridiculous that it’s only for a weekend and we probably won’t even get that?” Barnes said.

Landgraff said the “I Want a Truce” campaign tries to fight “rape culture.”

“Rape culture means we live in a society where we are taught men need sex at all costs,” she said. “Women are afraid that people will say they are lying or that it was regretted sex.”

Barnes said Men Against Rape hopes the “I Want a Truce” campaign will also force men to acknowledge their responsibility.

“We allow men to get away with sexism,” he said. “Men have this problem and they need to address it. Men have certain privileges that women don’t, such as the wage discrepancy, and they shouldn’t.”

Vanessa Prell, a member of Students Stopping Rape, said she signed the pledge to prevent more people from getting hurt.

“I’ve never met a person who hasn’t been affected by sexual violence in some way,” Prell said. “I think it’s important to educate people about it.”

The campaign will be the first step in educating people about issues surrounding rape, Barnes said.

“We don’t expect that [sexual assault] will be eliminated,” he said. “I think [the campaign] does help get the issue floating around in people’s minds.”

“I Want a Truce” was created as a Fall Quarter event to complement RPEP’s spring campaign, “It Affects Me,” Barnes said. He said the spring campaign addresses the manner in which rape affects all members of the local community.

Groups Mount Annual Fight Against Rape

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Various groups are using everything from shoes to bright blue T-shirts to get the public’s attention this week and kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center and several on-campus organizations have planned rallies, films and workshops throughout April. The center is scheduled to host a press conference and a kick-off rally, titled “Pathways to Peace,” today at the De la Guerra Plaza in downtown Santa Barbara. Spokeswoman Alena Donovan said Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-35th District) would attend the rally.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month was brought to California in 1996 when then-Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-6th District) sponsored a resolution to designate April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in California. The resolution has been renewed each year since. In 2003, Assemblywoman Jackson introduced a resolution to renew it.

Today’s rally will feature a display of shoes.

“We will be using 350 pairs of shoes to represent each of the survivors we served last year,” Donovan said. “[The shoes] will form a pathway; on one side of the pathway will be facts and statistics about rape, and on the other side are suggestions of steps people can take in their community.”

Donovan said the center would bring the shoe display to campus Wednesday and lay it on the lawn in front of the Women’s Center.

A UCSB group, Students Stopping Rape, is holding its “It Affects Me” campaign this week on campus. The group is showing Abby Epstein’s documentary “Until the Violence Stops” tonight in Girvetz Theater at 8. Admission is free and an audience discussion is scheduled to follow the film.

The group is also planning a rally at the Arbor on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sarah Crowley, a senior geography major and student coordinator for the group, said the organization has grown out of a desire to start a campaign to inform the public of the effects of rape.

“We wanted to address how rape and sexual assault affect women,” Crowley said. “Men are affected differently; women of color are affected in different ways. Rape and sexual assault affect everyone on a college campus. Our environment includes rape and our environment affects us.”

Crowley said the group has been asking students to pick up blue “It Affects Me” shirts from the Women’s Center and to wear the shirts in support of the campaign. The group is also asking students to write one or two sentences on how rape has affected them. These anonymous statements will be read out loud at the Thursday rally while a ball of yarn is thrown back and forth among the audience, forming what Crowley called a human web to show the connections between people.

“We are connected through a real negative thing, but in the end, we put a positive spin on the connection,” Crowley said.

Susan Landgraff, a junior psychology major and media intern for the Women’s Center’s Rape Prevention Education Program, said Students Stopping Rape has also been asking people to sign a pledge to help the fight against rape.

“It Affects Me started as a way for UCSB to educate and promote understanding, whether you know someone or something happened to you,” she said. “Whether you were walking home or had your ass grabbed on DP and you feel bad about that.”

Take Back the Night, another student group, is organizing several events for next week. The events include a self-defense workshop, an open-microphone night, a day of workshops for rape survivors and a screening of “Sisters and Daughters Betrayed” - a documentary on Asian sex trafficking - followed by a discussion. The week is scheduled to conclude with a rally the night of April 15 in Anisq’ Oyo’ Park. The rally will feature bands, student performers, a march and testimonials. Friday will be a day of reflection at the Women’s Center.

Maria Saltzberg, a sophomore environmental studies major and co-chair of Take Back the Night, said the group is a nationwide organization that has been active at UCSB for over 30 years.

“We have been largely successful in educating the community about sexual violence and giving survivors a voice and protection,” she said.

Take Back the Night’s purpose is to inform people about sexual assault and protest what it calls a climate of fear, Saltzberg said.

“We aid women in finding and demonstrating their empowerment, provide a forum for women to make their voices heard and create an environment in which survivors of sexual assault can begin to heal,” Saltzberg said.

Max Anders, a sophomore sociology major and co-coordinator of Men Against Rape, said his group would hold a workshop during next week’s Take Back the Night events.

“[It’s] on irresponsibility, masculinity and why men are essential to the reduction of sexual assault,” Anders said.

Don’t Just Imagine a World Free of Rape

By Carl Barnes
[ View original Daily Nexus article ]

Do you know four women? Then you probably know someone who has, or will be, raped. We would rather believe that the average rapist is a sociopath who cannot control his sexual drives. It is easier to think that it is not our fathers, brothers or friends who are the perpetrators, but that it is some nameless, faceless person who cannot be detected until it is too late. Sadly, however, men are taught that women are sexual objects to be had and that it is OK to degrade them in speech and act. Rape is not antisocial; it is a product of the way we raise our children. The culture ferments attitudes and uses images that do not give a clear message that sexual assault and harassment is wrong, and in fact border upon encouragement of these practices. The result is a society where men have distorted and misguided views about what is acceptable behavior. If you think this is false, just think back to the last time you saw men on DP catcalling from their balconies, grabbing a woman’s body without her permission or insulting another person with the words “bitch” or “pussy”.

Now envision a world where rape, sexual assault, harassment and discrimination are unheard of. Men and women would be treated equally. People would respect each other in public and private settings. Men would no longer feel external pressure to front to one another to prove that their masculinity is intact. Women would feel safe walking alone at night. Men would feel safe to cry and express their emotions. Couples would feel safe holding hands in public regardless of their gender(s). Our language would not associate power and strength with “masculinity” nor would it associate weakness with “femininity.”

What can be done to make this world real? The simplest way to effect change would be to not treat people, especially women, as sexual objects in words and actions. Touching another person’s body without their permission is an invasion of their personal space and privacy, and is an affront to their sense of security. A word to the wise (guys): Touching or grabbing a woman without her consent is a count of sexual battery. The all too common practice of men insulting one another using words that are derogatory to women and homosexuals (bitch, fag, etc.) is unacceptable. Furthermore, we ought to hold people who engage in these and related practices accountable. Silence in the face of discrimination is tacit consent of the speech or actions that have transpired. If “boys will be boys” then responsible men will be in short supply.

Here’s one thing we’re doing: We’re holding a concert and rally entitled “The Mask of Masculinity” in Anisq’ Oyo’ Park on Thursday, May 15, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at sunset - after which there should be a cool lunar eclipse. We will have speakers addressing such topics as dating in I.V., language, the media and role models. We will also have live bands as well as informational booths, all of which are aimed at entertaining and educating.

If you are interested in more information, contact us at . We meet on Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. at the Women’s Center. You can also attend Students Stopping Rape meetings on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m., also at the Women’s Center. For more information, contact the Rape Prevention Education Peers at or Take Back the Night at .

What are you doing to make it real?

Carl Barnes is a philosophy graduate student and a member of Men Against Rape.

Men Against Rape Hold Penis Registration Drive

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On Wednesday, men lined up at a card table in front of the Arbor to show their support for sexual assault victims by pledging not to be pricks with their penises.

The penis registry, sponsored by Men Against Rape, was one of the many Take Back the Night activities held this week. It was designed to inform men about their role in sexual assault and to expose them to MAR, one of three organizations, along with Take Back the Night and Students Stopping Rape, that make up UCSB’s Rape Prevention and Education Program.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., members of Men Against Rape grabbed students’ attention by shouting things like, “Are you sure your penis doesn’t need a permit?” Curious passers-by were asked to take a “Penis Registry Quiz,” answering true or false to statements like, “My penis needs permission to be in or exposed around another person,” and, “My penis is to be used for such activities as pleasure, procreation, etc. but is not an instrument of power.”

The quiz was designed to teach men they might still be contributing to violence against women even if they have never raped a woman.

“One in 10 men is a sexual assaulter, but without awareness-raising activities like these, he may not even realize how wrong what he’s doing really is. It’s important that men understand that sexual assault affects everyone, and that everyone has a hand in it, because we’re all a part of this rape culture,” said Stephanie Molen, co-chair of Take Back the Night and a junior psychology and music major at UCSB.

The men who passed the penis registry quiz by answering every question correctly were awarded a “Certificate of Competence” with contact information for MAR and helpful “penis-management guidelines” such as, “When not in use, a penis should be stored in a dark, cool, dry place” printed on it. Those men who failed the quiz were instead handed a “learner’s permit,” but Dustin Fujikawa, a MAR member and an undeclared freshman, said only one or two men had failed the quiz.

Although most men left the registry table giggling, many, such as Eyal Aharoni, a research assistant at UCSB’s Psychology Dept. and newly licensed penis user, expressed their satisfaction with being able to take part in a good cause.

“I’m glad to have this opportunity as a man to get involved in the action against sexual assault. I’ve thought about getting involved in the past, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. Now I’ll be able to contact Men Against Rape and possibly contribute further in the future,” Aharoni said.

MAR will hold a rally at Storke Plaza on May 17 to raise awareness about the organization. Take Back the Night will continue through Friday, and will host a rally and march tonight at 5 p.m. in Anisq’Oyo’ Park.

Our Culture Should Not Accept Sexism

by Jeff Bucholtz View original article…

After five years as a UCSB student, I thought I’d seen it all. I was sure I had seen all the assholes and all their asshole moves. But of course, I was wrong.

After spending weeks (as a male member of a coed group) preparing and creating our new Students Stopping Rape Word of the Week posters, I returned to campus to see them destroyed. At first glance I thought that it had been the storm. I was wrong. I was hoping that someone hadn’t ripped them down, that the wind and the rain had somehow torn them, balled them up and thrown them in the garbage. I hoped the wind had sprouted hands so I wouldn’t have had to accept the fact that there were bigots on our campus. That’s right - bigots! Those people that we pretend live somewhere else. You know, our favorite heckling buddies on Del Playa Drive, or those cool fondling-type “gentlemen” at the bars downtown. The bigots that are at the heart of the party.

Now, our bigots don’t wear white hoods - that would be far too courageous. No, on the contrary: these guys, they blend in. They drink and party with the rest of us. They hang out in our houses, hook-up with our friends, they even sit next to us in class. But underneath their “suave” disguise lies a frightened bigot. Someone who thinks it’s funny to call women dumb whores or to grab women’s bodies on the street. Someone who believes rape is mostly a myth that those dumb lesbian bitches are making a big deal out of to taint the image of good men. Someone who tears down signs put up by a group whose sole purpose is to stop rape in our community by sharing information.

I’ve got news for you, UCSB: These men are bigots and it is our fault they haven’t been checked. Where are you cowards? Where did you run off to in your drunken stupor? I dare you infantile Cro-Magnon assholes to come out of hiding and identify yourselves. Stop tearing down signs and act like you are actually learning from the education you’re supposed to be getting. Use your words! Isn’t that what we teach five-year-olds? To use their words?

Those of you reading this column may think I’m out of my mind, that I am an angry extremist. Well, you’re right. But I have become this way because of the people in our community who refuse to take the personal challenge of accepting the realities of sexism and rape. This is our fault, UCSB. It’s our responsibility to prevent bigots from being accepted among us.

As a man, I am constantly amazed at the lack of concern and courage men on our campus show. I mean, I love this school. I love the university, I love I.V., I love the people; but we are so ignorant and apathetic that I am completely humiliated to say I earned my degree here. What the fuck is wrong with us? Three to 10 women are raped each week in our community. And 98 percent of the time it’s by someone they know. This is the truth! How can we all stay quiet? It affects each and every one of us. In this situation, not speaking up is the same as encouraging. If we don’t speak out against men who are bigots and assholes, we allow them to continue believing their behavior is okay. And that behavior leads to rape.

I don’t necessarily believe that the people who destroyed our posters are rapists. That would be foolish. I do believe, however, that their actions speak clearly to the men who would rape, saying, “Go ahead, rape. I don’t really care.”

Here’s the truth, UCSB: most men who rape don’t believe what they are doing is wrong. They don’t believe it’s wrong because they live in a place where blatant bigotry and mistreatment of women is accepted by many of the people around them. While rape is the fault of the man who makes the decision to rape, we cannot continue to blame only the men who commit this crime. It is our community’s fault too, for surrounding them with a culture that doesn’t believe survivors and allows its men to be bigots because “boys will be boys.” Bigotry in any form is not okay. Shouldn’t we expect more from the men in our community? Bigotry towards women is unacceptable and the rest of us should not allow it to continue.

Students Stopping Rape and other student groups, such as Men Against Rape, Take Back the Night and Women’s Commission, spend hours sacrificing their hearts and souls to make our campus aware of the problems that face it. Should the rest of the campus be content to let 40 out of 18,000 students bear the responsibility alone? There are only five full-time members of Men Against Rape.

The posters in front of the Women’s Center and EOP, designed to educate and change our language so people don’t use the word rape as a punch line, were only the beginning in a long list of efforts that must be made to end rape and violence against women. For those of us who don’t have time for more meetings, fine. Just remember that our community is filled with bigots and we all have a responsibility to change that. Don’t accept this culture; it’s dangerous and can be changed if we make an effort to do so. Make UCSB the beginning of a social movement instead of the reason for one.

Oh, and to the bigots who tore down those posters: feel free to call me at the Women’s Center, 893-3778, so we can set up a time for you to contribute positively to your community by replacing the posters you destroyed. I’ll be waiting.

Students Stopping Rape meets every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Women’s Center. Men Against Rape meets every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Women’s Center.

Jeffrey Bucholtz is co-coordinator of Men Against Rape.