Step Up! Stop Rape!

You can be powerful without making others powerless.  Violence against women is a major social issue that only makes headlines when it is sensational news.  Rape and crime statistics regularly in the papers, on the radio or TV, but we publish them.

2011 Montgomery County, MD 1st quarter Montgomery County Police Department had a 4.6% decrease in reported crimes.

Yet in the same recent period 54.2% increase in reported rape (from 24 to 37)

Of the 37 reported rapes, 28 of the rapes victims were in a relationship with the suspect. 

Be Powerful without Making Others Powerless.  

Society judges a man on his physical strength.  Control over one's life is a goal we all strive for, men and women.  But society doesn't applaud women for their physical strength and dominance over a situation.  With rape and sexual assault on the rise in Montgomery County, it's time to Step Up and change what is acceptable.

5 Things Men Can Do To Step Up and Stop Rape!

• Speak Out - against demeaning and aggressive behavior against women.  Don't laugh at jokes about violence against women.  Speak out against images of women as dehumanized sex objects.
• Talk with Women - those close to you (mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend) and find what it is like to live with the threat of rape and sexual violence every day.  Find out how they would like to be suppported and what makes them feel unsafe and threatened. Really listen, accept that their feelings are real.
• Talk with Men - about how rape or sexual violence has affected their lives.  Learn about how much men lose by being seen as a potential rapist and sexual dominant.  Find out what other men say will help change this reality.
• Mentor and Teach Boys - how to be men that are strong without needing to show and use their power against others.  Teach boys that having power over another is abuse and not strength.
• Work against all forms of Oppression - Sexual violence, sexism, racism, homophobia, women as objects.  All forms of oppression are linked and affect society's acceptance of these wrongs.