There is nothing unclear about the fact that rape is unacceptable. A “Forcible Rape” report filed into DPSSS on March 7 of this year, reported as having occurred on February 26, raises the heartbreaking concern that we still do not understand rape.

The report was filed 9 days after the purported event.  While there might be other reasons for this delay, it is true that for too many rapes, we see similar delayed reporting  –  or no report at all.

It stems from a culture that somehow puts blame on the victim, making them feel unsafe from public scrutiny and judgment should they seek justice.

Rape can be prevented. Prevention begins by understanding the most rapes do not occur in dark alleyways with strangers, but that 84 percent of the time, one is raped by someone he or she knows personally, according to Una’s website. It begins when we understand that 1 in 4 women are raped in the United States, and that this problem is one of the most underreported and misunderstood. It begins when people stop choosing to rape. It begins by educating ourselves.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Una and the Student Health Advocates & Peer Educator Program (SHAPE) will be hosting events throughout the month designed to broaden our understanding about sexual assault, rape culture, male-prevention rhetoric about rape and what “good sex” really is.

This includes having a panel with officers from the Department of Public Safety and Security Services about staying safe on campus. Beyond dialogue, DPSSS is also offering Rape Aggression Defense classes, giving us the skills to handle dangerous emergency situations.

These conjoined efforts are working to change your misperceptions of rape and sex, and to reverse the toxicity of rape culture. SHAPE, Una and DPSSS are calling on students to open their minds. If we are not attending these events, we create a debt of responsibility and a mountain of ignorance.

We have to begin talking about these issues. We run the immense risk of having more broken hearts and minds and greater injustice in the world if we do not begin this self-education.

“Public scrutiny” and hostility stems from us – let’s work to remove our hostile stares. Let’s work with Una, SHAPE and DPSSS to find our way into a future free of ignorance, free of rape.