I am writing in response to the article “Tackling Sexual Assault” which appeared in the October 27, 2009 issue of The College Voice. I am very pleased to see The College Voice helping to raise awareness about the issue of sexual assault on campus. As someone who has worked in the field of sexual assault prevention and education for many years, I recognize that raising awareness is the first step in addressing this issue.
However, as a community, we must also mobilize and address this problem through the use of prevention and education programming.
Currently, Connecticut College has an all-male peer education group called One in Four working on this very issue. The group is named after the statistic that one in four college-age women will be survivors of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. The men in this group are working to help other men on campus understand what they can do to assist friends and loved ones who are survivors of sexual assault, and how they can actively intervene in high-risk situations. While most rapists are men, most men don’t rape, and One in Four tries to empower men to take a stand against sexual assault.
One in Four is always looking for new members to get involved in our rape prevention and education efforts. Any men interested in joining One in Four should contact Greg Goodfellow at Gregory.Goodfellow@conncoll.edu.
Again, thank you for raising awareness of this very important issue!
Regards,
Adam R. Lalor
Assistant Director of Admission
