Newsletter: Fall 2004: A Sense of Urgency

On June 14, 2004, the NYC Council held a joint committee hearing on sexual violence with the Youth, Education, and Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committees.  It was the second in a series of hearings on the city's systemic response to sexual assault.  Council members heard testimony and directed questions to the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Youth and Community Development.  One major concern emerged for council members: how long we can afford to wait to disseminate effective, age-appropriate information about sexual violence to young people?  The committees' chairs, Yvette Clarke, Lew Fidler and Eva Moskowitz, and Council members Larry Seabrook, Allan Gerson and others echoed the sentiment.  Betty Rothbart, DOE Administrator of Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention, stated that they planned to utilize the expertise of community-based organizations as they revise their anti-violence curriculum, "Seasons of Peace," to roll out next year.  The Alliance and other organizations look forward to working with the DOE on this important project.

 The following is an excerpt of Joe Samalin’s testimony at the hearing.

 My Name is Joseph Samalin and I recently graduated from graduate school where I was co-president of Columbia University's men's group, Columbia Men Against Violence.  Since about ten years ago, I have been working on rape prevention and anti-violence work with young men in New York and other areas.  It is through running college groups that I first realized for myself the very serious need to start working with young men before they reach college age.  Doing sexual assault prevention and education - especially male centered - within the school system of New York City is a crucial key to ridding both the schools themselves of sexual assault, as well as a step towards ending men's violence against women in the city, state, country and abroad.  It is also a key towards ending closely related problems such as other forms of violence, homophobia, classism and so on.

One of the main sources of frustration that people working on these issues feel is the question why: why do people of all ages and genders still suffer from the epidemic of sexual and other forms of violence and abuse, and why does violence occur overwhelmingly against women at the hands of men?  Hearing any of the statistics concerning youth and sexual assault should be enough to inspire people to work to end these problems, to protect our children.  Pleas made by feminists, activists, social workers and educators working on the front lines with youth should be enough to do it.  Sharing friends, family members, or our partners' personal experiences should be enough.  One's own personal experiences should definitely be enough.

The answer is relatively simple (although the solution is not so simple) - men's violence against women will end when men stop perpetrating it.  Sexual assault and rape by men remain so prevalent in all sectors of our society including schools, because some men choose to commit it, and the vast majority of men choose to remain silent about it.  This cycle is passed down to our boys and the violence is repeated.  It will end when we stop teaching boys that violence, dominance, aggressiveness, silence, and anger are what it means to be a man; when we stop teaching that sex is a game, that violence is sexy and sex is violent; when we stop teaching all men to treat girls, women, people of all genders and orientations, of all racial, cultural, ethnic, religious and class backgrounds as less than equals, not worthy of respect.

[1]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_176.html
[2]: http://www.nycagainstrape.org/home/nycaasa/stage.nycagainstrape.org/newsletter_article_178.html

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