LWOMEN

L CONTINUE TO UNTIL WE TALK ABOUT IT

SECTION EDITOR

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1en it comes to rape culture is not an

ubtle behaviours, attitudes, and words that
ing all women to live with an underlying
-whether active or passive—of rape culture
its to occur.

liscuss rape culture are when it comes toa
les of this in a college setting is the case of
Santa Barbara (UCSB). In May, Rodger killed
himself in the name of revenge against the
xual and romantic rewards that he deserved

e in September of last year when students at
me under scrutiny for a “rape chant” recited
‘came to public attention because it was
ulture mentality, stating, “At UBC we like ‘em
, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is

cal damage and extremeness, they both
rape culture. When we teach men that it’s

is a fun way to start out their campus life,
or’s relatively unconcealed motivations went

against them when it comes to being
attitudes: they are filled with the young
t in Canada (women ages 15-24), as well as

Is sexual assault an issue at Douglas College? It’s hard to say. To be sure, the
commuter nature of a college like Douglas (as opposed to post-secondary institutions that
host on-campus housing, sororities, and other physical locations where sexual assault
of students commonly takes place) makes it a less obvious target for sexual assaults on
campus.

Indeed, as Nancy Constable, director of safety, security & risk management at
Douglas College notes, the college has taken measures to mitigate the risk of actual
assaults on campus.

“We take the safety, security, and well-being of our students very seriously, and
in terms of setting a tone on campus, we have clear policies on Standards of Conduct,
Violence Prevention, and Sexual Harassment & Personal Discrimination, and follow up
immediately when any concerns are brought forward.”

Still, while incidents of rape on campus might be difficult to track or find, the concept
of rape culture is all around. Is there a difference between sexual assault and rape culture?
Of course. But ignoring rape culture is a step that contributes to attitudes that encourage
sexual assault.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

I believe that the simplest step we can all take to counteract rape culture in our society is
to acknowledge its reality. Rape culture exists; it exists everywhere, and it exists on our
campus. Rape culture is more than the physical, sexual, violent acts of aggression that we
use as markers of misdeeds—it is in the way that we talk to and about each other as sexual
objects instead of as people.

In the future, we do not want to be surprised and mystified by horrific events like
the UCSB incident, or sound-bite-worthy events like the UBC rape chants. Instead, let’s
unpack and demystify the culture of fear that we live in, and teach each other to notice
and reject the attitudes and conduct that give rape culture its underlying power.