Sexual Violence: An American Problem

The Steubenville rape case along with the horrific gang rape in India has brought sexual violence to the media’s attention. Of course, we had GOP politicians who felt compelled by some ungodly force to speak about rape victims in demeaning and bizarre ways during the previous election. I know that my posts over the last six months have centered on the terribly depressing topic of sexual violence but I find that I am up to my ears in sexual violence as a soon-to-be-psychologist working in a public mental health setting. Last week I led a group with some women who had recently experienced sexual violence and they asked me a simple question: “Jeremy, you’re a guy. Do you know why guys think it’s OK to rape women?” This is a very difficult question and one that I had trouble answering. I responded with some vague statements about the ways in which our culture makes men feel entitled to have sex with women.