I also appreciate that you interviewed Lauren Allswede, a professional who works with survivors of sexual assault on a daily basis, since it is people like her who really have the experience and expertise to speak about what it’s really like for assault survivors.

I think the information and advice given by Allswede and Windham (another wonderful voice to present in the interview, as she has years of advocacy experience as well) was excellent and I agree with what they both said.

However, I am disappointed that the overall tone of the article seems to imply that victims are responsible for preventing people from attacking them. Shouldn’t we be aiming our “prevention tips” at those responsible for the attacks – who, an overwhelming majority of the time are men? Do we really believe the responsibility for preventing sexual assault lies on the shoulders of women?

The title of the article is “Parking Sometimes Risks Assault”. The message that you are sending here is that if an attacker assaults a woman while she is “walking alone from parking lots or structures”, she “risked it” and is partially at fault. A woman, or anyone, who parks and then walks to her destination is not “risking assault”. She is living her life. It’s unfair that women are told that going about our daily activities sometimes mean we are “risking assault”, but that men can go about their daily activities sans comment.

I wish this article had been instead about the work that women and men are doing to prevent sexual assaults from happening in the first place, or asking why more men aren’t involved in the movement to end men’s violence against women, or asking why more rapists aren’t brought to justice (and yes, that includes right here at MSU)? (Only about 6% of rapists ever serve a day in jail, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, Crime and Punishment in America, 1999)

I leave you with this piece on “Sexual Assault Prevention Tips” by Monika Penner (http://girlwpen.com/?p=1614), which I think does a really nice job explaining why a victim-blaming (in a news article, in a book, talking to a friend) tone is harmful:

Sexual Assault Prevention Tips

When you tell me that I shouldn’t drink too much alcohol because that increases my risk of being sexually assaulted, I hear that I was responsible for being raped because I was drunk.

When you tell me to walk with a friend or lock my doors, I hear that I should fear strangers jumping out from the bushes or breaking into my house and not my friend and lover who raped me.

When you tell me to take self-defense classes, or to yell and fight back if I am being attacked, I hear that my natural defense reaction to freeze was wrong.

When you tell me to get to know people before I invite them into my home or go out with them, I hear that I should have known that the person I befriended for several years was a rapist.

When you tell me to walk confidently, I hear that my body posture made my offender want to sexually assault me.

When you tell me to carry pepper spray, I hear that I am responsible for being sexually assaulted because I didn’t.

When you tell me that I should report the assault to the police, I hear that if I don’t because I am afraid, or don’t want to talk about it, I shouldn’t feel this way, and that my need to exert some sort of control after having my power taken away, is wrong.

When you offer me “tips” for my own safety, I hear that it was my behavior in question, and not my offender’s.

And when you tell me that there are things I could do differently, in order to prevent being sexually assaulted, I hear that I am responsible for what someone else does.”