Men Can Stop Rape Conference
Men and Women As Allies:
National Conference on the Primary
Prevention of Men’s Violence Against Women
Keynote Speech

April 15, 2009, 9:00 AM

Stephen, thank you for that kind introduction and for inviting me to deliver this morning’s keynote.   I bring greetings from Attorney General, Eric Holder and from my colleagues in the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice. 

Thank you all for taking the time to be here to engage with one another, especially at a conference devoted to bringing men and women together to address violence against women.

This is a critical conversation and one that must continue –and deepen - if we are to make lasting change on behalf of women and girls everywhere – particularly in our own communities and in our own families.

I want to thank Stephen Glaude and the staff of Men Can Stop Rape for inviting me to participate and to address you this morning.  Many thanks also to the organizations that have co-sponsored this very important gathering.

As Stephen mentioned, I have the privilege of serving as Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women.  I have been with the Office for 14 years – since we first opened our doors in 1995 – and I have seen firsthand the progress that has been made.  I am also keenly aware of the work we have left to do.

It is my job to understand what works and one thing that I know works is education - and by that I mean the opportunity to learn in settings like this.  It is through engaging one another in difficult and uncomfortable conversation that teaches us what we don’t know we don’t know.  I hope everyone leaves this conference with new insight and new ideas for how to bring about change.

Because April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month my remarks today will focus on sexual violence and how – working in partnership men and women alike can address this devastating crime. 

As all of you know, sexual violence pervades every corner of the globe, including the United States. It is a serious problem in the workplace, on college campuses, in each of our communities, and sadly, in some of our families.

Looking at my Google News feed yesterday at about 5:00 in PM, there were 27,364 articles about “rape” posted for the day of April 14th.

At that hour these were the top ten headlines and leads in news.

From Louisiana:  Utah Fugitive, Wanted on Rape Charges, Captured in Shreveport – A man wanted in UT on charges he raped an 11-year old girl and severely beat her brother has been arrested in a relative’s home in Shreveport.

From Delaware:  Break In and Rape in Dover – Dover Police are investigating a home break-in and rape that happened in the early morning hours on Monday.  Police say at a about 1:30 am, an unknown number of suspects broke into the victim’s home…The victim told the police she was confronted in her bedroom by one of the suspects and could hear other voices inside the home.  The attacker then implied he had a knife, and raped the woman.”

From California:  California Sunday School Teacher Charged with Murder, Rape, Kidnapping… - A female Sunday school teacher kidnapped, raped an murdered an 8 year old girl who was the close friend of her 5 year old daughter, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped it into a pond, prosecutors contended Tuesday.

From New York: Man Accused of Raping Young Stepdaughter – A man accused of raping and molesting his young teenage step-daughter for more than two years, was only caught after another family member found a note the girl wrote confronting him.

From Ohio:  Prosecution Rests in Rape Case Involving former Student - Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday afternoon against a man accused of kidnapping and raping a university student in 2005.  The defense contends that the victim was intoxicated and engaged in consensual sex.

From Indiana:  Kokomo Man Accused of attempted Rape - A woman told police that a man she knew…asked her to fix him a sandwich.  She told police once the man was inside her house, he attacked her and tried to rape her.  The woman was able to get out of the house and call the police.”

From Massachusetts:  Coach Banned From Town After Rape Charges – A high school football coach and former New England Patriots player accused of having sex with a teenaged girl was banned from entering (said town) while he awaits trial.”

From Missouri:  Man Charged with First Degree Rape – A man was arrested by the Sheriff’s Department and charged with two counts of statutory rape in the first degree, four counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree and one count of child molestation.

National:  When Men are Sexually Assaulted, Lets Call it What It Is: Rape.  Lil’ Wayne discusses how he “lost his virginity” through rape at 11 years old.

National:  Date Rape Scene: Funny or Offensive?  Here’s the scene:  after a woman, tanked on tequila and antidepressants, throws up and passes out, her date proceeds to have sex with her.  Is it rape or comedy?  The makers of the new film … are calling it comedy.  While some movie critics say they get the joke, several women bloggers and sexual assault victim advocates are expressing outrage by what the call a mainstream validation of date rape.

Again, all in yesterday’s news. 

I am obviously struck by the number of stories but also about how everyday news reflects what we know about sexual violence in the US.

These are the statistics:

According to the 2006 National Violence Against Women Survey, rape is a crime committed against both men and women.  However, most victims are female and most perpetrators are male.  The survey found that 18% of women and 3% of men report being raped at some point in their lifetime.

Before the age of twelve boys and girls are equally vulnerable.

The survey found that - of 116,600 completed rapes and 75,720 attempted rapes of victims over the age of 12 - 5.5% were male compared to 94.5% female.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women between the ages of 16-24 experience rape at rates four times higher than the rate for all women.  The 2000 Sexual Victimization of College Women’s study estimated that 25 percent of college women had been victims of attempted or completed rape.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, of all attempted or completed rapes in 2006, approximately 38% were perpetrated by strangers while 62% were perpetrated by someone known to the victim.

48% of male victims and 64% of female victims knew the perpetrator.

Without question, sexual assault and any brutal act of rape is an unspeakable violation of another human being that will forever affect the life of the victim and family and friends.

For the first time since the Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994, a U.S. President proclaimed April officially as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month “to increase awareness about this issue, prevent future crimes, and aid victims.”

We are inspired by what President Obama has asked of us:
“To make continued progress, my Administration supports efforts to help Americans better understand this issue. Working together, we can reduce the incidence of sexual assault and help all who have experienced this heinous crime.”

And let me add that the leadership of the President, the Vice President and the Attorney General is reflective of the goals of this conference: women and men can work effectively to prevent and end violence against women.

We have all known for a long time that violence against women is not just a women’s issue – sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are harmful crimes that breed fear and hopelessness in our families and communities.

While women’s experience must always inform the work that is needed to be done, ending violence against women has never been the sole responsibility of women.  Men are crucial partners in preventing violence and I am grateful to the men who have been our allies for the past thirty years and for the men who are stepping forward today.

The Office on Violence Against Women has made it a priority to include men, from all communities, in the national dialogue about these issues, in particular men from communities of color and other marginalized populations.

As some of you know, it is the mission of the Office on Violence Against Women to lead the national effort to respond to the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. 

Since the Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994, the office has awarded over $3.5 million in grants to communities throughout the country. 

As you may know, we currently administer 2 formula grant programs to States and 17 discretionary grant programs addressing violence against women among diverse populations.

Before Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2005, a growing movement of sexual assault advocates mounted a campaign to bring attention to the alarming rates of sexual assaults against women and the limited national attention or federal leadership on the issue.

After working with Congress, including then-Senator Joseph Biden, new funds were authorized under the VAWA in 2005 solely dedicated to Sexual Assault Services.

The new Sexual Assault Services Program focuses on providing improved direct services for sexual assault victims of all ages, their friends and family, and others affected by this crime

I am pleased to say that the Program will be launched this year and we will award $21 million to the Sexual Assault Services Formula Grant Program to States, culturally and linguistically specific programs, Tribal Governments, and State and Tribal sexual assault coalitions. 

Sexual assault services are integral to victim-survivor healing and there much more to be done.

Since 1995, the Office on Violence Against Women has primarily made grant awards for intervention after victimization occurs – for the purpose of holding offenders accountable and providing services to victims.

However, in VAWA 2005 created a new Program focused on prevention. 

The Engaging Men and Youth Program will support local projects to prevent crimes of violence against women with the goal of developing mutually respectful, nonviolent relationships.

Eligible applicants for local community organizing efforts are nongovernmental domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking victim service providers or coalitions; community-based child or youth services organizations with demonstrated experience and expertise in addressing the needs and concerns of young people; State, territorial, tribal, or local governmental entities that are partnered with service providers; and programs that provide culturally specific services.

Eligible applicants for awareness campaign funding are nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations or coalitions that have a documented history of creating and administering effective public education campaigns addressing the prevention of violence against women; or State, territorial, tribal, or local governmental entities that are partnered with service providers.

The program is currently under careful development but when the solicitation is released early in the next Fiscal Year, I urge you to apply.

 As we have exploring how best to develop this new program, we are learning that engaging men on the issue of sexual assault presents unique opportunities and challenges which often differ from domestic violence prevention efforts.

First, as I said earlier, we know that rape occurs for men at the earliest and most vulnerable ages.  The National Violence Against Women Survey found that 71% of male victims were first raped before their 18th birthday. 

Second, in sexual assault prevention efforts, most critically, we need to educate our youth and young men on what constitutes rape and how we can no longer be “passive” or “innocent” bystanders.

Most of the data on perpetrators are based on surveys of prison populations, that is by perpetrators who are incarcerated and convicted of stranger rape.

Professor David Lisack from the University of Massachusetts in Boston conducted several studies looking at non-stranger sexual assault.

Professor Lisack surveyed college-aged men and posed his questions as part of a broad study on sexual behavior.  But by design, his questions he hoped to identify possible offenders and get a sense of who these young men were.

He found that a majority of sex offenses were committed by a small number of perpetrators committing the majority of offenses.

Certainly, there were one-time offenders.  But the majority of offenses were committed by a minority of perpetrators.

Among this small group of perpetrators he found common threads among their behavior:  pre-meditation to commit a sexual assault, a lack of empathy, perceivable hostility, intentionally using alcohol, targeting particular women and perpetrators openly describing them as targets, a clear aim of having sex, either consensual or not, and using just enough force to gain submission but not severe enough to visibly injure the victim.

What Professor Lisak learned is important to consider as we design prevention efforts.

Men and women both must be engaged to understand the dynamics of sexual violence, and the dynamics of perpetration so we can find ways of intervening safely before sexual assaults occur.

Most of us are not perpetrators.  But too many of us do not intervene.  Our job is to empower one another and those we know to intervene at critical moments to stop sexual violence.

How do we encourage and support men, particularly young men who don’t want to collude? 

 How do we encourage all men to take steps to stop sexual violence when they see it? 

Jackson Katz, who is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking minds on this issue, dedicates an entire chapter in his book “The Macho Paradox” to the issue of bystanders.

He writes:
If we want to dramatically increase the number of men who make men’s violence against women a priority, it is not useful to engage them as perpetrators or potential perpetrators.  Instead, it makes sense to enlist them as empowered bystanders who can do something to confront abusive peers, or who can help to create a climate in male peer culture that discourages [some] men’s attitudes and behaviors.

OVW is proud to be entering a cooperative agreement with Men Can Stop Rape to address ways we can work more effectively with men on campus and in universities.

 Our office was also thrilled to learn about Men Can Stop Rape’s partnership with the Department of Defense in the “Our Strength Is for Defending… Preventing Sexual Assault Is Part of Our Duty” to create the culture of prevention.

Ending sexual violence is a priority for OVW, and we assure you we will continue to strengthen our efforts with the military branches. 

Through our collective efforts and dedication we can end the trauma sexual violence victims experience in the aftermath of an assault. 

Together, we can let it be known that there is no excuse for sexual violence, including the sexual exploitation of women and girls.

As allies, women and men must come together as constructive partners to inform the development of our national policies and programmatic priorities.

I want to end with the wise words of my colleague, Ulester Douglas from Men Stopping Violence in Atlanta who always reminds us: “Violence against women will only stop when men stop it.”

Thank you again.  We are proud to be your allies  - and to work with you to create a world where one day women (and men) can live without the threat of sexual violence.