Jim Hines, a 1996 MSU graduate, said when he was 16 a friend told him she was raped.
Now he has heard it too often.
“I’ve lost track of the number of friends who have been raped,” Hines said. “The more I saw how common it was, the angrier I got.”
Hines, the administrator coordinator for The Listening Ear Sexual Assault Counseling program, said he is in the process of forming the MSU Men’s Forum to provide a forum to discuss and challenge masculinity.
“For a long time now, rape has been seen as a women’s issue,” he said. “I don’t understand that. In single-victim rapes, 98 to 99 percent of the perpetrators are men. Yet we expect women to take responsibility for stopping rape? That’s absurd.”
Men’s groups across the nation are working to challenge stereotypes embedded in American culture that contribute to rape.
Pat NcGann, director of outreach Men Stopping Rape, Washington, D.C., said men’s groups across the country address sexual aggression.
One in Four, a campus group at Central Michigan University, is named based on the statistic that one in four women will be raped. The group began a 13-state, 3,546-mile walk in May. On May 10, the group presented a petition to state lawmakers for public funding for rape evidence, kits and exams.
Steve McAllister, Central Michigan University graduate assistant for sexual assault services made a statement by walking to promote rape awareness.
“I personally talked to someone who was sexually assaulted 15 years ago and I was the first person she told,” McAllister said. “After our programs people thank us or share their stories and some ask us where they can get help.”
NcGann said men’s groups provide an outlet for change.
“Most men do have a desire to make changes in sexual assault and violence but most men don’t know how.”
NcGann said about 18 high schools in Washington, D.C., have Men of Strength Clubs, a program that challenges men to make a difference.
“All men can be seen as potential rapists” he said “We may not like this but it’s understandable and we need to work to change this.”
Hines said men need to understand their role in sexual assault.
“I’ve heard guys joke that ‘I’ve never been raped.’ It’s a lot easier for guys to blow it off.”
Hines said the focus of his group is to look at attitudes and behaviors that make us “quote-unquote” male that are harmful.
Hines said rape is embedded in American culture.
“Everywhere you look, magazines, TV, books we’re seeing women as images. It’s almost impossible to rape someone if you see them as a human being but we see them as objects.”
Steve Thompson, the Sexual Assault Services Coordinator at CMU said men’s groups need to challenge sexual aggression.
“As a man, I am tired of men not taking up the issue,” he said.
