DeAndre Levy

Special to the Free Press

Each Sunday during the season, Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy will express his thoughts in the Free Press about football and life.

In April, I wrote a piece for The Players Tribune, asking men, my fellow athletes in particular, to “Man Up” and be apart of the solution to eradicating sexual assault by challenging the culture that allows rape to persist.

Since then, there have been headlines, responses, and sometimes the worst-defenses, as we’ve seen with Brock Turner, Darren Sharper, Art Biles, Baylor and other stories of athletes or athletic institutions whose actions illustrate the need for more education, better response, and a deeper understanding of sexual assault. And unfortunately these high profile cases are the ones we know, because of notable names and universities. There are countless more unreported or out of the public eye.

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Some of the feedback I received from the article overwhelmed me. Hearing so many different voices and personal stories, further showed me how necessary it is to be an ally and for men to talk to each other about these issues. They’re not just women’s issues, they’re our issues.

I’m still learning and still have a lot of questions and I hope you all do too. In honor of October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I intend to explore sexual assault’s relationship with domestic violence.

In my next post, I hope to open dialogue and continue the conversation. Please e-mail any questions you have about domestic violence and sexual assault, so we can navigate these issues together?

Email: dbirkett@freepress.com

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