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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Students call on peers to prevent sexual assault

Student leaders across the District are battling stereotypes with a new national campaign calling on college-aged men to prevent sexual assault.
 
A national organization called Men Can Stop Rape, which works with GW, Georgetown and American universities as well as several local high school chapters, seeks to create what it calls a “bystander intervention movement.”
 
The group launched its efforts Jan. 31 at Georgetown, as members shared their own experiences with sexual assault and violence on campus, stressing the need for males to “take a stand” in a situation that could potentially lead to rape or violence.
 
“It’s not necessarily what you do, but just finding the courage to do it,” sophomore Kostantinos Skordalos, a leader of the organization’s GW affiliate said. “[It’s] being secure within your own person to actually get up and say something.”
 
The campaign questions masculine stereotypes, urging men to engage in nonviolent, non-confrontational intervention, particularly when the individual being harassed is female. The members describe their efforts as unique for focusing on men’s preventative roles, when they are typically the perpetrators in sexual assault cases.
 
“It’s not a women’s issue, it’s not a men’s issue, it’s not a gay issue, it’s not a straight issue,” sophomore Matthew Scott, a member of the group, said. “It’s an issue that affects everyone, whether you recognize it or not.”
 
GW’s chapter of Men of Strength met for the first time this fall. The group, which has four members, is one of five Men of Strength chapters challenging cultural norms regarding sexual assault at schools across the District.
 
The club coordinates with another campus organization, Students Against Sexual Assault, to develop training and educational programs.
 
The student leaders plan to spread the movement through widescale postering, expanding Men of Strength to reach more high schools and traveling across the country to train students about bystander invention.

Nearly two-thirds of undergraduate students across the U.S. report experiencing sexual harassment, according to statistics from the American Association of University Women.
 
Kedrick Griffin, senior director of programs for Men Can Stop Rape, said his role in bystander intervention began when he was in college, hanging out in bars with his classmates. He explained he and his friends had a plan: “If you’re in a situation that you need some help, just send a text message to one of us and we’ll help you out.”
 
He described an incident when one of his female friends texted him that she felt threatened by a man she met in a bar. Griffin found her in a crowd of men, and did not hesitate to jump in and remove her from the uncomfortable situation.
 
“We just said, you know, ‘excuse us for one second,’ and we made up some story and got her into the conversation, and got her away from that guy,” said Griffin.
 
He is now the coordinator of college and high school programs, conducting training at local and national levels.

Next week, he will travel with members of Men Can Stop Rape to Western Illinois University to conduct training for faculty, staff and students.

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