yeahgrrrl:

buildinghealthyfutures:

First off, we’ve managed to secure an extension on the deadline for our “Peace Begins At Home” license plates. Please go to this post before the end of next week to learn how to simultaneously raise needed funds for sexual and domestic violence prevention while reppin’ a sweet custom plate! (If you’re not from Virginia, please tell someone who is.)

Moving on… Lately we’ve noticed that an increasing number of people are recognizing an important aspect of our prevention work, and that is this: Starting around puberty, most girls (and some boys) are warned to constantly guard themselves against the threat of sexual assault. To this end, they are asked to navigate a litany of “safety tips”:

• Don’t go anywhere alone after dark, 
• Have your keys ready and only park in lit areas, 
• Never take your eyes off your drink, 
• Don’t get drunk, 
• Don’t send “mixed messages”
• Don’t get into an elevator alone with a man
• Don’t educate yourself about sexuality (or at least don’t let anyone know about it if you are) 
• Watch how you dress,
• Etc., etc., etc.

Being aware of the prevalence of sexual assault in our culture is good. But how we’ve taught people to deal with it is not, because most of the suggestions listed above do very little to address sexual assault in the manner it usually occurs:

• Indoors,
• At various times of day,
• Against “targets of convenience” (rather than people dressed a certain way),
• No weapon used,
• With a person known and trusted.

Furthermore, these “safety tips” put all of the burden for preventing sexual assault on the would-be victim, rather than where it belongs, on the would-be perpetrator. Sexual assault is not inevitable. There are people in the world who choose to perpetrate. The focus should be on them and what leads to this choice. For too long we’ve told anyone who might be a potential victim that they have to be on a heightened state of alert every time they choose an outfit, walk somewhere alone at night, or go on a date. This isn’t fair, and the frustration people feel about it was recently brought into sharp relief by  this blog post that has now gone viral.

It got us thinking. What would life be like if everyone miraculously agreed tomorrow that it simply doesn’t make sense to force, threaten, coerce, manipulate, or generally steer another person’s sexual expression when they ain’t asking for a co-pilot? What if tomorrow there was no more sexual assault?

More specifically, what is one thing that would be different or better about YOUR life if the threat of sexual assault suddenly disappeared tomorrow? What is your take on this fearless future? 

Please share your thoughts about this through your preferred social media outlets. Feel free to tag your post with #fearlessfuture. And please link back to us here. We’re trying to raise some funds with those sweet custom license plates!

hell yeah!