Transitioning Times

Last week, there was a news report from Aljazeera on America Tonight about renaming sexual assault and rape as "non-consensual sexual contact" or "non-consensual sex" in policies regulating college campuses and in many people's vernacular. This is not right.  Words have power, and using a euphemism discounts the severity of what happened.  A crime occurred.  Someone's life was potentially turned into two periods: before and after.   Renaming sexual assault just reaffirms what many advocates know, that people are uncomfortable with the idea of sex and don't even want to think about rape.  It is much easier to think, especially on college campuses, that it is merely a miscommunication, instead of a premeditated attack on a vulnerable person.  If you aren't familiar with The Undetected Rapist, or David Lisak's research , please watch below. From a description of the video:  " What is also clear from this research is that so-called...

As Sexual Assault Awareness Month comes to an end, it beckons for everyone to reflect on how to continue opening other’s minds to the pandemic of sexual assault. This is not a 30-day sprint to educate the world about an ongoing oversight in public health, but should be seen as a month to brainstorm and reflect on progress, milestones reached, and the steps that need to be taken in the next year to continue the awareness.             A particular area of interest in sexual assault research and awareness is campus sexual assault. Many researchers have looked at a variety of causes and consequences of being sexually assaulted while attending a university. A recently published article investigated one of the many possible reasons why sexual assault is hardly ever reported, institutional betrayal. These institutions are often entrusted and are depended on by the individuals that are enrolled. When a sexual assault is reported a...