Dear Friends,

Like we mentioned last week, things are getting a little crazy when it comes to rape prevention.

From female students being afraid the statue of a man in underwear might come to life and sexually assault them, to a college administrator suggesting we hang every student who is accused of rape, just because he’s been accused. Okay, I may have exaggerated about the hanging.

We want to stop rape hysteria because we don’t think it’s helping one bit. In fact, it’s making it more difficult to promote evidence-based solutions. One way to end the hysteria is with facts. So here you go:

FACT: Each year, similar percentages of men and women (Men: 5.3%; Women: 5.6%) experience sexual violence other than rape.

That shows me that sexual assault is not a “gender crime.”

FACT: The number of rapes of females has fallen dramatically in the United States, from 402,000 in 1995 to 143,300 in 2010.

That shows me that while radical anti-rape activists are screaming about a rape epidemic, the opposite is actually true. We have been successful at reducing rape.

You can find seven more facts in our handout:

“Nine Key Facts About Sexual Violence and Rape”

(http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Nine-Facts-About-Sexual-Violence-and-Rape1.pdf)

Please take a look, and feel to print it. Arm yourselves with accurate facts to counter the hysteria you come across.

ACTION: Pick one fact, and post it online today, with the fact-sheet url.

Thank you!

teri

Teri Stoddard, Program Director

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments

www.saveservices.org

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