Dear Editor,

I appreciate what COCC does for Sexual Assault Awareness, with their events and signs around campus. I myself attended Smart Start this past week. However, I was disappointed by their selection of events. There are two items that I would have liked to see included in this series.
I noticed that there was no event for men or an event that addressed their issues.
Although men make up a small amount of sexual assault victims, about 10% according to some sources, in my opinion 10% is enough. There is a misconception that men aren’t sexually assaulted, and there is such shame and stigma for those that are, and especially for those that choose to come forward with their experiences. Why not have an event emphasizing that although women are of the overwhelming majority, everyone can be sexually assaulted?
Most people know what rape is. Rape is sexual intercourse without consent.
However, what about not-rape? What about unwanted/inappropriate/nonconsensual advances and touches? Can you be raped by someone you’re in a relationship with? If you had given consent and then changed your mind, is that still considered rape? From my research and experience, all of the above scenarios are sexual assault. What about other questions: does “no” ever mean “maybe”? But what if they’ve been flirting with me all night? I heard that sexual assault is about power, not desire, is that true?
While COCC has done an admirable job of promoting awareness of sexual assault, I feel we would have benefitted from an event that educated the public on these questions that addressed how to prevent sexual assault through a better understanding of what sexual assault is.

Thank you,
Julia Overfelt

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