Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Susan Marine <>]

Colleagues,

In terms of the debate about 'the red zone', I think it's *really* 
important that we, who commonly serve as the spokespeople for ending 
violence on our campuses, do not continue to spread this bit of urban 
legend until someone has documented, in *some* way, that it's actually true.

The reasons are probably obvious, but to me it's more than just making sure 
we don't spread false information as a truism, which damages our 
credibility. It's also about the fact that many of us spend the lion's 
share of our energy reaching first year students with prevention and risk 
reduction information, neglecting the other three or more years we have 
access to our students and opportunities for creating deeper dialogue with 
them about interpersonal violence. I worry that it also sends the message 
to upperclass students that this is an issue of naivete' and inexperience, 
and once they cross the threshold into 'adulthood' (i.e. sophomore year) 
they don't need to worry about sexual assault anymore.

Women (and men) are still at greatest risk of being raped under age 18, and 
women are twice as likely to be revictimized at a later age if raped as a 
child (http://ncjrs.org/pdffiles/172837.pdf). I hope I'm not alone in 
thinking we need to continue to think about (and educate) about sexual 
violence and its impact across the lifespan, even thought we only have 
access to college students for four (or so) years.

Susan

Susan Marine
Director
Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
Harvard University
340 Holyoke Center
1350 Mass. avenue
Cambridge MA 02138
617 384-9081