Guys: Speak Up and Act Out Against Violence

 
We need to take action against violence.  Some people say that women need to take preventive measures to stop rape or sexual assault.  Some of these measures include carrying pepper spray or mace, not walking alone at night, or taking self-defense classes.  However, these “measures” point towards the things that women can do to prevent rape or sexual assault. What about men?  It is mostly men who are committing these acts, so they should join forces to protect women they love. 
 
 

Think about how many acts of violence and injustice towards women you could stop if you simply told someone who was acting out of line at a party to stop, or did more than just remove the girl from the situation. A guy I knew would yell at women and thought that there was nothing wrong with it. He actually yelled at his resident advisor about how she never helped him when he needed it and made her cry. In reality, he never went to her for help and she even came by and asked if everything was okay from time to time. He kept bothering her until she cried some more, like it was a game. Finally, I opened the door and looked at him like he was a crazy, deranged person. He stopped after that.
 

It is situations like these that give men the idea that it is okay to treat women as inferior. This can grow into an idea that they can do anything with women. This mindset is what allows men to treat women the way they do when we get text messages from campus police at 2a.m. about a sexual assault. We can’t just stand by and watch men mistreat women and simply allow it to grow and become something worse. If only we stopped them and let them know that they can’t get away with mistreating women.
 

What would the world look like if all men simply had some bravery and made a stand against another guy at the right time? The world would be a much safer place- for everyone.  Women would no longer have to scramble for her pepper-spray before she left for class, miss out on a dance class to learn some self defense moves, or simply fear about being raped or sexually assaulted all the time. Guys, get some courage: speak up and act against violence.