DRAWING MEN INTO THE STRUGGLE AGAINST VIOLENCE

By Sophia Koulomzin

Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, is a place of new and exiting educational experiences. Wesleyan fosters these experiences by providing a safe setting in which all students can learn and feel comfortable to express their opinions. Because Wesleyan University is such a protected environment, issues such as violence or injustice are often debated and battled by the multitude of student activist groups on campus. Wesleyan students feel that if this school can be peaceful and safe, then that advantage should be used to help bring security and justice to other conditions. Once every year, for example, Wesleyan participates in the "Take Back the Night," in which students march against sexual violence. Women and men process together throughout campus, raising their voices in rallying cries against sexual violence towards women. Wesleyan prides itself on its social awareness and activism.

During the past several months, the tables have been turned. Just three weeks into the spring semester of the year 2000, the number of alleged sex offenses and aggravated assaults on Wesleyan's campus had already reached the total for the entire 1999 calendar year. The incidents - a group of males attacking a female student as she walked through campus, another girl raped by a male student, and a group of males attempting to pull a female student into their car - sent shivers down the spines of many Wesleyan students. ==

Suddenly, our stronghold of justice and learning had been shattered. It was disturbing for many to learn that these incidents occurred on our campus, which we take for granted as a safe place. In our naivete we were surprised that it happened at Wesleyan. Because the school so liberal and open we'd like to imagine it would occur less frequently here than at other schools.

The student body, though shocked, had a strong and vocal response almost immediately. Articles were written in the university's newspaper, The Argus, raising concerns about how safe the campus really is. Patrols of both the on-campus security guards and the local police were increased. Women stopped walking alone at night. Safety bulletins were sent out, giving suggestions to women on how to avoid dangerous situations. Wesleyan turned its political outrage inward. Megan Joiner, a junior at Wesleyan, organized a rally so that the student body could respond as a group by making it known that violence will not be tolerated on this campus. She called for students to "respond to acts of violence immediately and furiously with constructive anger and collective strength." The rally drew nearly 500 students (Wesleyan University has a population of 2600). It gave students the opportunity to give voice to the fear and anger that the entire campus was feeling. A number of male and female students, as well as administrators, spoke about their reactions to the violence. In between speeches, students led rally cries such as "What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? Now!"

Many of the students who spoke advocated taking direct action as a means of combating campus violence. Many students also expressed their anger at the indication that protection against violence should be solely women's responsibility. One male speaker urged all students, male and female, to take responsibility. "It's important that everyone understand that what has occurred here is a product of the dehumanization of women," he said. " It's tough to stand up against [sexism] but it's the things that go unsaid that contribute to the violence around women. The fear I felt [when standing up against sexist behavior among my friends] can't compare to that of the women that night who were running for their lives." Chris Wade, a senior at Wesleyan, took the initiative to start a group of Men Against Violence (MAV), which he said would help men focus on feeling responsible to forcefully begin a process of change. He addressed men in his speech, saying "You must decide that you are no longer just a man with feminist beliefs, you are a man who will take action based on those beliefs.

Given that we know we are unintentionally part of an oppressive social system, we need to recognize that it is our obligation, responsibility and duty to change it. [We must] confront all violent behaviors, speech and attitudes, even if it makes you uncomfortable."

In a later interview, Wade explained his group's plans on combating violence towards women. "We want to be involved in educational activities, possibly in local high-schools. [We want to] give talks based upon the belief that to a certain extent, students and men can have a lot more impact on young boys, in terms of trying to explain what's right. The traps are, in terms getting indoctrinated into these [sexist] behaviors, is that men just to do it without even thinking." Wade admitted that there was a lot of thinking that each man in the group had to do about himself. "We're trying to look for ourselves," he explained, "at our understandings of what's going on; this is a new thing for us, too. We're trying to talk about our feelings about this. Women have an identity, to a certain extent, based upon their role as being oppressed. And men also have an identity, which is associated with the oppressors, but it's not necessarily a comfortable identity. The macho mentality is not a fun thing to live with, it's a very isolated way of living, and it's very aggressive, and a lot of men don't like it. It's a hard role to live in. We're trying to do a lot more reading, a lot more educating of ourselves before we try to educate other people" He asserted that "in order to address these issues, there has to be a change in the male identity, because sexual assault and violence are part of what men are taught to do. It's a norm; it's not the anomaly. Even though there's rhetoric saying its anomaly, it isn't. It's precedent."

To increase safety on campus, a student volunteer walking escort was organized by Suzanne Spencer, a sophomore at Wesleyan. Any student who is afraid to walk alone at night can call the service, and two volunteer student escorts will be sent to walk the student across campus. Nighttime lighting on campus was also increased.

Unfortunately, even after these initiatives have been taken to make our campus a safer place, an unsettling series of hostile incidents occurred in the weeks to follow. Occurrences of verbal and physical harassment seemed to increase. Although many were discouraged, feeling that there could be groups or individuals that are intentionally trying to negate the impact of the rally, some felt that the increase in reported violence was not a sign of increased hostility. Many members of the community hope that these occurrences are only an indication that more incidents are being reported as a result of awareness on campus.

Though it seems that positive change is coming to slowly, many understand that social movement is gradual. Increasing safety and changing the sexist mentality of our society will require persistence and determination. Chris Wade concludes, "It's always good to have a rally like that to get people to be aware, but it's a very transitory thing. But if we are [continually] active, I think it will change the campus. It's a slow process, but I think we're taking steps in the right direction."