Here are some suggestions how you can help out and make a difference in stopping rape.
- Be informed: Be aware that one out of three women are raped in their lifetime. Check out the statistics; read a few books such as “I Never Called It Rape.”
- Speak out: Bring the problem out into the open. Talk with your friends and peers. Confront inappropriate behavior. Many victims don’t tell anyone they’ve been raped, perhaps because of “overreactions” or being “blamed”. Help them break the silence about what was done to them, by providing the warmth, trust, belief, support, and understanding they need, so they’ll feel comfortable disclosing the abuse to you.
- Educate: Make sure youth understand about rape. Talk with them about abuse. Make sure they understand about safety, respect, and qualities of a healthy relationship. Discuss the myths about rape. Encourage them to talk about limits beforehand.
- Volunteer: Your local rape crisis center is dependent on concerned individuals like you. There are many ways to help out, besides counseling.
- Join: Many organizations, such as the AAUW, work to promote equity. Issues like gender discrimination significantly contribute to problems of rape. A good book on this topic is “Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap.”
- Provide opportunities: Many crisis centers and colleges have outreach and peer groups that go out and educate about rape, abuse, and dating violence. Help these groups get the message out, by arranging opportunities for them.
- Contribute material: Make a difference at this site, by providing names and phone numbers of rape crisis centers in your area; sending us handouts you would like to make available to others; suggesting links to other useful web sites; recommending books others might find helpful.
- Link: Add a link to this site from your web site. Help to increase awareness of the problem, and to make the resources and information offered here as widely available as possible.
By joining in to make a difference, you’re helping yourself to be better prepared to help a daughter or son, spouse or partner, sister or brother, close friend, or acquaintance who may be a victim of these cruel acts of violence.
Thank you for caring and choosing to make a difference!