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You are here: Home >> Articles
>> Helping Out
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February, 2003
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Here are some suggestions how you can help out and make a difference in
stopping rape.
- Be informed: Be aware that one out of three women are raped in their
lifetime. Check out the statistics;
read a few books such as "I Never Called
It Rape."
- Speak out: Bring the problem out into the open. Talk with
your friends and peers. Confront inappropriate behavior. Many
victims don't tell anyone they've been raped, perhaps because of
"overreactions" or being "blamed". Help them break the silence about
what was done to them, by providing the warmth, trust, belief, support, and understanding they need,
so they'll feel comfortable disclosing the abuse to you.
- Educate: Make sure youth understand about rape. Talk with
them about abuse.
Make sure they understand about safety, respect, and qualities
of a healthy relationship. Discuss the myths
about rape.
Encourage them to talk about limits beforehand.
- Volunteer: Your local rape crisis center is dependent on concerned
individuals like you. There are many ways to help out, besides
counseling.
- Join: Many organizations, such as the
AAUW, work to promote equity. Issues like gender discrimination
significantly contribute to problems of rape. A good book on this
topic is "Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence
Gap."
- Provide opportunities: Many crisis centers and colleges have
outreach and peer groups that go out and educate about rape, abuse, and
dating violence. Help these groups get the message out, by arranging
opportunities for them.
- Contribute material: Make a difference at this site, by providing
names and phone numbers of rape crisis centers in your area; sending us handouts you would like to make available to others;
suggesting links to other useful web sites; recommending
books others might find helpful.
- Link: Add a link to this site from your web site. Help to
increase awareness of the problem, and to make the resources and information
offered here as widely available as possible.
By joining in to make a difference, you're helping yourself to be better
prepared to help a daughter or son, spouse or partner, sister or brother, close friend, or acquaintance who
may be a victim of these cruel acts of violence.
Thank you for caring and choosing to make a difference!
See also:
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A Dozen
Things Men Can Do To Stop Men's Violence Against Women
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