Toilet: No Means No

[slacker]

Irregular News for 9.01.05

 

(AP) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Indiana University is taking a message to prevent sexual assault to an unusual place—men’s restrooms.

 

Members of Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters, or RAISE, have placed 600 red drain guards in urinals in Indiana dorm rooms with a message urging students to stop sexual assault.

 

“We’re reaching people we wouldn’t reach otherwise,” said member Cara Berg, a junior.

 

For years, colleges have tried to prevent sexual assault by focusing on women’s behavior. Female students are told to stay with friends when they go to parties, avoid excessive drinking and to speak clearly and firmly when they do not want to have sex.

 

That approach may reduce their risk, but it doesn’t get at the root of the problem, said Carol McCord, assistant dean of women’s affairs.

 

“It’s far more effective for men to say to other men, ‘I don’t accept this as a way to deal with women,”’ she said.

 

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